The Legend of Spyro: The Forsworn
by Warrior of Spectra
Summary: The World was saved by Spyro's elemental fury that brought it back together. But now, Spyro and Cynder face a new battle. With the awakening of a Dragoness long thought dead and old unsettled disputes among the races. The flames of War quickly start to rekindle. Can they defeat the Dragoness and her followers? Or will they be forced to fight their own allies?
1. Prologue: Awakening

**Prologue: Awakening **

**A/N: This story is a collaboration between me and Native Avenger. The story takes place after the events of Dawn of the Dragon. **

**Credit goes to Native Avenger for making the Cover art.**

**...**

"_I love you."_

_Those three words...those three simple words are all I can remember. I couldn't see her...only heard her. Life before my waking up is all a blur to me._

...

The world slowly began to come back together after The Destroyer's long walk across the world. Malefor's plan had failed. His plan to destroy the world had been a partial success but soon fell apart after the world's current Purple dragon, Spyro, and his best friend, who he had feelings for, Cynder, saved the world by Spyro unleashed a Elemental Fury of combined elemental Mana which was strong enough to bring the world back together...

But as each piece of the world reassembled itself back into place, a cave hidden in a mountain somewhere in the forest valley of Avalar began to glow. For ten minutes the glow was intense but soon died down, revealing a formation of crystals which glowed a light gold color. In the center of the crystal, was the figure of a dragon, only in its teens, the dragon only appeared as a silhouette in the center of the crystals. It appeared curled up in a circle in the center of the crystal, its wings were wrapped around its body as if to blanket itself.

The Dragon was completely incased in the crystal. But a glow appeared around the dragon's chest...soon a crack appeared in the crystal around it.

The Awakening...had begun.

...

_Light and Shadow_

_Life and Death_

_Harmony and Chaos_

_Yin and Yang _

_The elements of mortals...the elements they all share. _

_That was what my mother once told me, before I became what I am now. _

….

The Dragoness rested on her stone throne, her eyes closed as she lightly tapped one of her claws on the marble floor of the dark chamber which was lit with only a few torches.

Her body was covered with purely dark scales with small green markings on her hips and wings and underbelly. On the end of her tail, was a long scythe blade.

The Dragoness was motionless, until she felt a small trimmer shake the chamber. The Dragoness' eyes suddenly snapped open, revealing a pair of piercing crimson eyes. Suddenly, the chamber began to shake even more as she began to stand. As she stood, her tail began to move, the blade on the end of her tail scratching the marble ground, white sparks kicking up into the air.

She arched her neck, took a deep breath and released roar which echoed throughout the chamber, and beyond.

…..

_They thought it was over when Malefor when they sealed his power away._

_Oh…how wrong the Hatchlings are._

_This is just the beginning. _


	2. Chapter 1: The Prophet and the Harbinger

**Chapter 1: The Prophet and The Harbinger**

**A/N: Another chapter brought to you by GD12 and Native Avenger. **

Spyro's eyes opened, his purple iris and black pupil slowly adjusted to the light, he saw the sight of green trees above him. The sun peered through the leaves and beat down on him. He lightly groaned and looked around him. The forest he was in resembled that of the forest that he, Cynder and Sparx flew through as they tried to get the raft to help Meadow get back to Hunter's village.

How he enjoyed flying through the forest, though it was a time of war, it was still enjoyable for him and Cynder. Of course those small moments could easily be ruined with the appearance of Grublims, the little annoying insect like creatures that were created through the earthly materials manipulated by Malefor, The Dark Master.

Spyro remembered the final battle against the crazed Purple Dragon who sought the annihilation of all life on the world and recreate it in his image. Spyro and Cynder had watched the once revered dragon get pulled into the crystal core of the world…and that was the end of him. Then he remembered Cynder telling him she was sorry…sorry for everything. Then he told her it was alright.

Spyro remembered his mentor's words which gave him hope and he realized what he had to do to save the world that was falling apart. The last thing he remembered before everything went white was Cynder saying that she loved him…

Spyro's eyes suddenly widened, upon realizing that Cynder wasn't there with him!

He stood up on his four feet, his feet wobbled a bit, but he was able to stand up straight. He no longer felt tired, there was one thing on his mind, and that was to find Cynder!

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled out into the forest. "Cynder!"

He quickly ran forward through the forest, trying to find the dragoness who helped him defeat Malefor…and the dragoness he had always loved.

The purple dragon continued to call out the dragoness' name. He was about to flap his golden and orange wings so he could take to the skies to try and find Cynder while flying…but before he could, he rushed through a bush, and slammed right into Cynder. The two fell backwards onto the ground.

"OOF!" They both said out loud.

Spyro looked over at Cynder who was slowly starting to stand. She had black scales which seemed to have a small hint of purple reflection, her under belly was a dark pink along with her wings, her tail had her signature glade like formation. She six silver horns, three on the left side of her head and three on her right. Cynder looked up at Spyro. Spyro and Cynder smiled at one another.

"Spyro!" Cynder said happily in relief. Spyro ran up to her and hugged his neck around Cynder's as she did the same.

"Are you alright Cynder?" Spyro asked, breaking the hug and looking at Cynder. "You're not hurt after…"

"I'm fine Spyro." Cynder said smiling. "Just a little tired…but I'm fine. I should be asking you that though Spyro."

Spyro nodded. The two dragons were silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to one another. Until Cynder said. "You did it Spyro."

Spyro looked up at her and nodded with a smile.

"No, we did it." He said.

Cynder shook her head. "No, you used the Fury to save the world. I just watched…besides, I was Malefor's slave…even if I didn't know it."

"Cynder…"

"No, if it wasn't for me…If I hadn't…then none of this would've happened." She said looking at the ground while sitting on her haunches looking at her tail's blade. "I left the Temple three years ago…you chased after me, I nearly got you and Sparx killed trying to come after me and save me…then you even went to The Well of Souls during The Night of Eternal Darkness to try and save me…but I almost got you killed and controlled by The Dark Master…"

"Cynder!" Spyro cut her off; he walked forward and kissed her. Cynder looked at Spyro in shock, happiness and surprise. She sat where she was as Spyro and she kissed for a long moment. When Spyro broke it, he continued. "Does that answer your question about why I went to save you? You are my friend, and the dragoness I love."

"I don't care if Malefor still had control over you. You didn't know it…I still love you Cynder." Spyro said. "Nothing will change that."

Cynder looked at the ground again...she still felt guilt, guilt over being controlled by Malefor when she didn't even know it after Spyro saved her. But…the purple dragon still trusted her…and loved her. She smiled and looked up at Spyro, then kissed him back, the two had their lips locked in the kiss for a few minutes until they broke it and caught their breath. A few minutes after the kiss, the two dragon's were flying through the air of Avalar, racing one another to Hunter's village, so they could rest and then head to Warfang to hopefully meet with Sparx and the surviving Guardians…and tell them what had happened.

The thoughts of what happened to Ignitus…still made Spyro sad, seeing his mentor, his father figure; sacrifice himself to allow Spyro and Cynder through the belt of fire. Though it pained him, he did not let the pain control him. Spyro reminded himself he had Cynder and Sparx. Even though it was a rocky relationship the group had, with Sparx not trusting Cynder due to her being Malefor's puppet for a majority of her life, and now the fact that Spyro and Cynder were a couple…

"Oh…" Spyro said allowed as he flew. He chuckled and lightly shook his head. Remembering about Sparx…

"What is it?" Cynder called out over the wind rushing past them, she noticed him smiling and chucling to himself.

Spyro looked over at his girl friend and laughed while he shook his head.

"Nothing…just Sparx." Spyro said.

Cynder grinned and rolled her eyes. "You're worried the mosquito will have something to say? About us being a couple?"

"Knowing Sparx…" Spyro said.

"We'll tell him when we arrive…besides, can't wait to see the look on his face." Cynder said. Cynder always loved to tease the little glowing dragonfly, it was fun to her. Small harmless jokes that would freak him out.

The two continued to race after one another, until Spyro started to feel his head pound like a drum, suddenly Spyro's vision blurred.

"Ugh…" He groaned.

…

_Light…_

_Darkness…_

"_We are the stories we live...the stories we have to tell. How many lives have been given to allow you to live? How many stories have been burned because of your arrogance…Malefor."_

"_He is unworthy…My lady…he must face punishment." _

_Emera…_

"_Malefor…I…"_

…

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled. Spyro suddenly flew the opposite direction of where the Cheetah village was at. "Spyro!"

Cynder followed Spyro and flew after him towards the mountain range, where he was headed. As Spyro flew, his eyes were blank, he kept flying as if he was a machine being told what to do. He heard the sound of voices…one in particular…a female voice…named Emera. As he flew, he was awake but at the same time he wasn't.

Cynder tried to catch up with Spyro, but he was flying faster than he had before…even faster than herself when Cynder was controlled by Malefor. The chase through the volcano of "Boyzitbig" was intense and she easily caught up with him then…but when she was reverted back she was still somewhat faster than Spryo…but now Spyro was flying who knows how fast.

When she reached the mountains Spyro was flying to, the snow fell hard…very hard, almost like a white sheet covering one's eyes.

She continued to follow Spyro for five minutes…until Spyro landed on a cliff side where there was an entrance…but when Spyro landed…he collapsed onto the snow. Cynder landed next to him and kneeled next to her boyfriend.

"Spyro!" She yelled, worriedly. Spyro's eyes slowly opened. He looked up at Cynder and sat up. "Spyro…what were you doing?" Cynder asked.

Spyro shook his head and looked around, taking in his surroundings. He looked at Cynder.

"I…Don't know…all of a sudden I was flying with you…then everything was a blur…but all I know if that something was calling me here…then there were voices…"

"Voices?" Cynder asked.

"Yeah…but I was more focused on what drew me here…" Spyro said, looking at the dark cave. Cynder looked at the cave and lightly shivered due to the cold.

"well…lets find out what it is, shall we?" Cynder asked. Spyro nodded.

"Alright…stay close." Spyro said. Cynder laughed lightly.

"Spyro, you know I can take care of myself." She said, walking ahead of him. Spyro smiled lightly and shook his head.

"She'll never change."

….

For about twenty minutes, the two dragon's walked through the dark cave, which had blowing crystals on the walls. As they walked past the gems, Cynder and Spyro felt their strength and mana begin to grow stronger.

"Feel that?" Spyro asked. Cynder nodded.

"Yeah." She said. "Never seen crystal's like these before."

As Spyro was tempted to touch one of the crystals…a glow came from the end of the tunnel. The two dragons ran towards the end of the tunnel, and came across a giant crystal in the center of a circular chamber. The crystal glowed gold, much similar to the crystal Spyro, Cynder and Sparx slept in for three years…but this one was…different. This was smooth…and it looked old…not a couple of decades old…but most likely CENTURIES old.

"Wow…" Spyro and Cynder said in unison.

Spyro and Cynder walked towards the crystal. Cynder and Spyro examined the crystal some more until the noticed a figure of a dragon about their size was inside the crystal. His body was shadowed and had his wings wrapped around one another.

"Some ones in there!" Spyro said.

Spyro then noticed a crack in the crystal. Slowly he walked over to it and looked at the crack curiously…slowly he placed one of his claws on it. Suddenly the crack began to glow…as well as the entire crystal. The two dragon's backed away from the crystal. The cracks suddenly spread across the crystal. That's when the crystal literally blew apart. Spyro quickly ran to Cynder and covered her protectively from the explosion of white and golden light.

…

Slowly the light began to fade. Spyro slowly uncovered Cynder and the two looked towards the now smashed crystal. The two walked over to the remains of the crystal, steam now coming out of the remains. The two then noticed a dragon laying in the middle of what used to be the crystal.

They now saw a white dragon, whose scales were pure white, his under belly was golden. His horns and wings were golden as well while his wings were bright silver. The dragon lay on the ground unconscious. Spyro and Cynder slowly approached the dragon…suddenly the dragon's eyes opened, revealing a set of bright gold iris eyes and slit hazed pupils.

…..

_What am I? How can I…see…yet I cannot. _

…

Spyro and Cynder slowly approached the unconscious Dragon. Cynder noticed the dragon's eyes quickly dart from one side of the cave, to the next. She noticed his hazed pupils and how the dragon's eyes seemed to be intense, almost as if he was ready to attack.

"Are you alright?" Spyro asked the White Dragon, approaching him to see if he could help.

Then suddenly, the White dragon stood up on all four legs in a attack ready pose, and lunged at Spyro. Before Spyro could even react, the dragon pinned the young Purple Dragon to the ground, the end of the White Dragon's muzzle within an inch of Spyro's eyes, Spyro saw the dragon glare his teeth.

The Dragon then spoke in a low, dangerous, growl. "Malefor!"

"What?" Spyro asked.

Suddenly, Cynder lashed out at the White dragon with her tail blade, the White dragon rolled out of the way, his facial expressions confirmed he was surprised.

"So…" The White Dragon growled lightly. "Two of you…"

Cynder crouched down, ready to attack.

Spyro stood up, and looked at the White Dragon. That's when he figured it out: the Dragon was blind.

It made sense actually. The hazed pupils, the way the dragon seemed to look around rapidly, how he did not notice Cynder, who had been standing right next to Spyro, and how the dragon was surprised when he found out there was "Two" of them.

"Cynder," Spyro said, stepping forward. "Wait. He's blind."

Cynder glanced at Spyro, then back at the White Dragon. She nodded and eased up.

The White dragon remained in a defensive stance.

"Great…" The Dragon said. "Now it seems this is going to be difficult."

Spyro stepped forward; the White Dragon looked in Spyro's direction.

Spyro then said. "We're not here to fight you…"

The White Dragon growled. "You sound differently Malefor…but your aura is the same." He said, not easing up.

"You think I'm Malefor?" Spyro asked.

"Don't toy with me traitor!" The Dragon growled. "You know I am blind, I can't see you, but I know your heart and aura anywhere…murderer."

"I'm not The Dark Master." Spyro said. "I'm nothing like him."

"Then how do you explain your aura? The Aura of a Purple Dragon?" The Dragon asked.

Cynder eyed the White Dragon, she was ready to attack, but she understood this dragon was only confused…but she would not allow him to put the dragon she loved in danger…they still had not fully recovered from their battle with Malefor…she could feel her Mana reserves were empty and that she felt slightly tired. She knew fighting this dragon would be a bad idea; even if he were blind…

"I'm the current Purple Dragon," Spyro said. "Spyro…"

The White Dragon raised a brow, but still remained tense.

"Spyro…" The White Dragon asked. Slowly the dragon seemed to ease. "Your aura…does seem…lighter…"

Cynder suddenly remembered something from her past…Something Gual had taught her back when she was corrupted by the Dark Master.

"You…" Cynder said surprise evident in her tone. "You're The Prophet of Spectra!"

Spyro looked at Cynder, confused. The White Dragon looked in Cynder's direction, his eyes focused dead on Cynder's eyes.

"You…" The White Dragon said. "Your Aura is similar to Malefor's, you were once corrupted by his influence, by birth…but now. Now you're cured."

Cynder stepped forward. She looked at Spyro, she noticed he was confused, after all he did not know much about the Dragon culture.

"I'll explain later." She said. Spyro nodded.

She walked up to the White Dragon, who seemed relaxed now. She stepped in front of the dragon, and suddenly she did something that Spyro was shocked to see…something he had never seen Cynder do…she bowed in front of the White Dragon.

"Lord Cecil," Cynder said respectfully. "Chosen by birth by Dragon Empress Emera…chosen by The Goddess to become her Prophet…it is an honor to be in your presence."

The White Dragon, now identified as Cecil, looked at Cynder in slight amazement.

"So…" Cecil said. "The Empress was right…I really did awaken far into the future…. Cecil paused, looking in the general area of where Spyro stood. Slowly, the White Dragon looked at Cynder. "Tell me…what is your name?"

"My name is Cynder," Cynder said respectfully. "I was once corrupted by Malefor, just as you analyzed…but thanks to Spyro, the Purple Dragon you sense, I am free… and he defeated Malefor. Saving the Realms in the process."

Cecil nodded lightly. "Who is the current Emperor or Empress of the Dragon Realm Empire?"

"Emera only had one egg…and the Empire fell the moment she vanished, ten years after you vanished from the world." Cynder said, her head still bowed. "Her child was believed to be dead…"

Cecil sighed sadly. "She…would be heartbroken…how much she wished to be a mother…" Cecil seemed to pause.

Cecil then said. "We have just met…but please…will you guide me to the Capitol?"

Cynder nodded humbly. "We will."

Cecil nodded. "Thank you."

Slowly Cynder stood up, and wrapped her left wing around Cecil's side, and helped guide him over to Spyro.

"Spyro," Cynder said. "Help me guide him."

Spyro nodded, though still confused. But he pushed his confusion away, understanding that Cecil needed help.

Slowly he supported Cecil on the opposite side that Cynder was on, and the two dragons guided the blind dragon out of the cave.

…

It had only been forty eight hours since the Dragoness had fully awoken…and her fury still had not subsided.

Malefor had failed them…failed his brothers and sisters…and most importantly, he failed HER. Sealed away ten generations ago, Malefor had been entrusted with so much of HER power. The power SHE wasted on HIM! Now…the Earth Golemn, a good amount of her power that was used to awaken it, had been destroyed! The Destroyer now lay in the center of the Earth crippled beyond healing! And now Malefor was dead!

The Dragoness landed on the grassy forest floor, crushing a lone unfortunate deer. Her claws sunk into it's flesh, killing it instantly. The Dragoness suddenly blew out a funnel of black flames at the trees around her, burning the trees, and any animals within range, into a crisp. The Dragoness slowly calmed herself, and looked up at the midnight sky…seeing the pale crescent moon.

"You young and arrogant fool." The Dragoness muttered.

Slowly, the Dragoness stepped forward and walked through the forest. She came into a clearing…which gave her a view of a tall mountain miles away. Her eyes briefly flashed crimson, she growled lightly. Suddenly, in one strong flap of her wings, she soared into the air and flew off towards the mountain.

...

"You got a good grip?" Cynder asked as she and Spyro used their wings to support Cecil.

"Yeah, let's go." the purple dragon confirmed with a small nod.

The black dragoness sensed the confusion in his voice, but thought it best to just move on for now. Together, Spyro and Cynder guided the blind dragon towards the cave's exit, passing by the various glowing crystals. They had to walk at a slower pace than when they entered the cave because of their added wait, but Cynder knew it was worth it.

All three dragons felt some of their strength return because of the crystals energy they eradiated, but they were all still fairly tired. The crystals grew less and less abundant as they drew closer to the exit.

Spyro and Cynder could swear that he heard Cecil whisper occasionally under his breath, but tried his best to ignore it.

"Much has changed… much indeed… what have I missed during my slumber?" Cecil thought quietly aloud as they saw the exit at the end of the tunnel they were walking though.

'I wonder how long exactly he was in that crystal for.' Cynder said in her head as she looked at the blind dragon with pity; of course, he couldn't see it.

They each felt a cold chill from the mountain air as they walked through the exit and finally outside. Spyro and Cynder took this moment to carefully look around the mountain range they were in.

The mountains seemed just as tall as Boyzitbig, but they were shrouded with light clouds and the snow gave them a calmer look to them. It also seemed like someone could have easily gotten lost if they traveled by foot.

Cynder sighed as the group of three felt the bitter cold air and they started to walk through the ankle-deep snow.

"Hm… we'll need to find shelter or set up camp soon." Cecil informed them as they walked down what seemed to be an animal trail.

…

Cynder noticed that the sun was starting to set over the mountain ranges when they made it about half way down the mountain they were currently on.

"I think we should stop here for the night." she suggested to the others and they nodded in agreement.

They were currently in a circular ledge on the side of the mountain. They were still high enough on the landform that there was still snow everywhere, but low enough that some evergreen trees were here and there.

Spyro and Cynder finally released Cecil and they leared the snow away from a small part of the ledge that would serve as their camp.

"Spyro, can you start a fire while I go out and hunt?" the black dragoness asked as they shivered from the cold.

The purple dragon nodded and walked towards a nearby tree to get some firewood. Cynder then walked off to get them some supper. She knew that she would easily be spotted because of her obsidian colored scales, but she had an idea.

Once she was far enough away from the boys that she couldn't see them anymore, she climbed the closest tree she could find and waited for her prey to come to her.

…

Cynder had a smile plastered on her lips as she approached the camp that Spyro made and she saw her lover and Cecil keeping warm by the newly made fire. The two males looked up at her and Spyro smiled when he saw her dragging three deer carcasses behind her.

"I got us food." Cynder said cheerfully as she rested the kills in front of them.

"So I can smell… good job." Cecil praised with his ever calm tone of voice.

Spyro and Cynder worked together to gut and skin the three deer, planning on using the pelts as blankets. As they did this, Cynder explained to her boyfriend how every part of the animal could be useful for something and instructed him not to throw anything away. She noticed that Cecil was smiling in her direction, presumably happy that she wasn't wasting any part of the animals. She smiled back, even though he couldn't' see it, and continued to help Spyro gut the animals.

Once that was done, Cynder cooked the meat for them. The sun had fallen by then and they had to rely on the fire for light. They quickly cooked the meat to their liking and evenly handed it out amongst themselves.

"Thank you… for the hospitality." Cecil said politely as he took his share of the meat and started eating soon after.

"You're welcome." Cynder replied cheerfully with another bow, simply increasing Spyro's confusion.

They ate their food in silence for the rest of their meal. Cecil was the first on to finish and he used one of the deer pelts as a blanket to keep him warm from the cold.

"I hope you two don't mind… but I require rest." he said quietly as he closed his eyes.

"That's fine. Go ahead." Cynder said with a kind smile and the blind dragon's quiet snores could be heard soon after she said that.

The black dragoness heard someone clear his throat and looked to her left to see Spyro looking at her.

"Cynder, how do you know who Cecil is and what did you mean by Spectra's Prophet?" he asked and it was obvious that he wouldn't let this question go.

….

"Spyro?" Cynder asked. "How much of Dragon history do you know about?"

Spyro was silent for ten seconds…trying to think about the history of the Dragon race. In truth, he knew little. Yes, Ignitus and the other Guardians taught him about the different elements, about Malefor and the Apes…but other than that…he knew very little.

"Not much…" Spyro answered, scratching the back of his head. "The library in The Temple was destroyed when Ignitus, Sparx and I found it."

Cynder nodded. "Would explain a lot…" Cynder paused briefly as a quick, but sharp cold, breeze brushed passed them. "Back when I was still corrupted by Malefor and fought for The Apes, I had various Dragon teachers. My teachers were willing defectors who joined the apes. They taught me about our race's history."

"Why would they teach you dragon history? Let alone it be accurate?" Spyro asked.

"Back then," Cynder began. "I did not question The Dark Master's power. Even if I learned about Dragon history, I would still willingly fight for The Dark Master. Regardless of what I learned…back then my darkness was in full control, but inside…I didn't want to fight my own race…" Cynder looked away. Spyro wished Cynder would stop blaming herself over what Malefor made her do…it wasn't her fault.

Spyro quickly changed the subject. "But…where does Cecil fit into Dragon history?"

Cynder looked up at her lover.

"I wasn't told much," Cynder began. "But I was told that a long time ago, that there was a dragon who was blind. But, he also had the ability to see the future…"

Spyro looked over at the sleeping dragon and then back at Cynder.

"You're saying…that Cecil is that dragon?" Spyro asked. Cynder nodded.

"Yes." Cynder said. "Back when the Dragon Empire was still strong. The Empire always had a Prophet. The last known prophet was named Cecil. From what I can remember from what my teachers told me, his personality matches what history described him as. Calm and humble. And my teachers told me that a century before the war began, that Cecil vanished. Now that we've found him in that crystal…we know where he's been."

Spyro nodded. Remembering how after Cecil realized that he and Cynder were not a threat immediately calmed down and held no hostilities towards them and how the crystal he was incased in seemed to be similar to the Crystal Cynder, Sparx and he were in for three years.

"Why is he blind?" Spyro asked.

Before Cynder could answer the question, someone else answered.

"It's one of the prices that was needed to be paid to become a Prophet." Cynder said. She looked at the blade at the end of her tail and then back at Spyro. "At a young age, a dragon is chosen to become a Prophet. But in turn, the price that needs to be paid is the sacrifice of the Dragon's Element and Eyesight. In return, they acquire the ability to see the future."

Spyro looked over at Cecil, amazed at what he had to sacrifice just to become a Prophet.

"But one thing I don't understand is…you called him a Prophet of Spectra…" Spyro said. "Who is Spectra?"

Cynder's eyes widened. "You're kidding me? Right?" Spyro raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Spyro asked, confused.

"You…don't know who Spectra is?" Cynder asked, surprise evident in her voice. Spyro shook his head. "Spyro…Spectra is The Goddess! As in THE creator of the realms! Surely you must've heard of her even when you lived with Sparx's family."

Spyro shook his head. He'd never heard of this…Goddess. But something deep in his mind did seem to think that he'd heard of…Spectra. But he couldn't put his claw on it.

"Tell me about her…" Spyro said.

Cynder nodded. But as she was about to explain, a loud roar could be heard in the distance…but became closer. Spyro and Cynder stood up, looking into the direction of the roar. Soon, another roar could be heard, this time waking Cecil.

Cecil lifted his head and stared in the direction of the noise. Soon…the same roar could be heard. Soon, Cecil's eyes widened.

"No!" Cecil said, shocked. "How…is she…?"

Spyro and Cynder quickly ran up to Cecil.

Cecil looked up at the two. "We need to leave! Now!" He said urgently.

"Don't worry, we'll protect you." Spyro said.

"No! You don't understand!" Cecil almost yelled…but before anyone could react, a dark cloud of flames flew forward through the air towards the three dragons.

"Look out!" Cynder yelled. Cynder quickly wrapped one of her wings around Cecil and she quickly rolled to the side along with Cecil. Spyro rolled the opposite side as the cloud flew at them, and suddenly the cloud blew up with shadow mana flying everywhere, much similar to Cynder's own Shadow strike.

Suddenly, a Dragoness appeared in the middle of the explosion and let out a roar. Spyro looked up at the dragoness…she almost resembled cinder when she was corrupted…except this Dragoness had green markings over her body and her blade at the end of her tail was much longer…and possibly even sharper.

Spyro noticed Cynder crouch down into a fighting pose. Spyro did the same. The Dragoness glanced at Spyro, then at Cynder. Her Crimson eyes flashed briefly. Spyro and Cynder lunged forward quickly. Spyro quickly blew out a breath of fire, while Cynder blew Shadow Flames. But as the attacks were about to be hit, the Dragoness sunk into the shadows, completely avoiding the breath attacks.

For five seconds, the camp was quiet, but Spyro and Cynder remained alert. Fully aware that their opponent wouldn't just run away at the beginning of a fight. Sure enough, seconds later the Dragoness erupted from the ground behind Spyro, lashing out with her tail, knocking Spyro to the ground. Spyro felt the dragoness' tail blade slash at his side. The blade felt as thoug it had been dipped in molten metal. Spyro cried out as he hit the ground.

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled, releasing a wind breath attack at the Dragoness.

The Dragoness held her ground against the onslaught of wind. And slowly but surely, much to Cynder's surprise, began to walk towards Cynder as though the gusts of wind were going at a slow speed.

Spyro quickly stood up, ignoring the cut on his side and quickly stood next to Cynder who stopped using her wind element.

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled, Cynder looked at Spyro. "Wind and Ice!"

She nodded. Then, together, the two took a deep breath and both shot out their respected breath attacks. Spyro blew using his ice breath while Cynder used her wind element. The combined breath attack hit the Dragoness, who stumbled back against the combined force of their mastered elemental attacks. The Dragoness roared in irritation.

After the Dragoness seemed weaken and slowed down from the combined elemental attack. Spyro and Cynder rushed forward, entering claw to claw combat.

The Dragoness recovered from the attack, and engaged the two dragons in combat. But even with Spyro's strength and Cynder's speed, the Dragoness easily seemed to evade each strike that was being sent her way.

Eventually, the Dragoness swung her tail out, knocking the two dragons to the ground. The Dragoness grunted.

"Foolish Hatchlings." She said as she walked forward. She looked at the Purple dragon. "So…you're the one who killed Malefor and saved this pitiful world?"

Spyro and Cynder slowly staggered to their feet.

"Pathetic." The Dragoness snorted. "And The Elders claim you to be her son…and the Grandchild of HER…"

"I didn't defeat Malefor by myself." Spyro said, weakly. By now, the two were on their feet. "I had Cynder by my side…together."

"You die together." The Dragoness interrupted. Her eyes flashed crimson. "You still have it don't you…your dark imprint."

Before the two Dragons could react, the Dragoness snapped her talons…and suddenly Spyro and Cynder began to feel their hearts start to throb. The two kneeled on the ground…feeling foreign energy enter their bodies.

"You think you two are free?" The Dragoness asked. Suddenly, the two dragon's scales began to darken and radiate dark energy from their bodies. The Dragoness smirked. "Fools. Darkness lays within everyone…even the noblest of us. The Chronicler told you this."

Spyro looked up at the Dragoness.

"Who…are…you!" Spyro almost yelled as he felt his vision start to darken as he felt his scales start to turn from purple to black…the familiar feeling he felt when his darkness would try and surface.

"Change is approaching young ones." The Dragoness said. "War and death are coming…either accept your fates, or be claimed by them."

Cynder attempted to step forward, but her body refused.

"My name," The Dragoness said calmly. "Is Persephone, and I am Death's Harbinger."

"Enough!" Someone yelled.

The Dragoness, Persephone looked up. Spyro recognized the voice, it was Cecil's. Spyro and Cynder weakly looked in Cecil's direction; he walked slowly in between Persephone and the two young dragons.

Spyro saw Cecil's hazed eyes glare up at Persephone.

"Be gone!" The blind dragon demanded. "You wouldn't lower yourself to such methods of killing HER grandchild when he is like this!"

Persephone growled. "So…Spectra's prophet is fighting her own battles? The Goddess is weaker than I thought."

"Do not speak like that about her when you know all too well what she is doing." Cecil growled. "I maybe blind, I may not be a threat. But I, like many of my predecessors before me, will do whatever is necessary. Even sacrificing ourselves in the process!"

Spyro saw Persephone look at the blind Dragon with an amused look.

"Fine then…you all may live." Persephone said, snapping her talons. Suddenly, Spyro and Cynder felt the burning end and their scales return to normal. The Dragoness then knocked Cecil out of her path as she walked forward. The blind dragon hit the side of a tree.

Spyro and Cynder looked in shock as the dragon lay unconscious on the ground.

Persephone now stood in front of Spyro, her blade tail on his neck.

"We'll meet again, young one, but…the next time we meet. You will die." She said before knocking Spyro and Cynder to the ground.

Spyro and cinder slowly got to their feet, and watched as the dragoness flew into the night sky…roaring as she vanished.

Spyro looked at Cynder, who looked equally confused.

"Who…" Spyro began. "What was she?"

Cynder looked at Spyro

"I…don't know…" Cynder said, surprise and shock evident in their tone.

The two dragons quickly recovered and ran over to Cecil, who had now just started to recover. Spyro helped the blind dragon stand.

"This isn't good…" Cecil said, his voice shaky. "If she's awake…they'll follow."

"Cecil?" Spyro asked. Cecil looked in Spyro's direction. "Tell us, what's going on?"

Cecil shook his head.

"It will take too long…we aren't safe here." Cecil said. "We need to find somewhere safe."

Cynder walked towards the two. "We can go to the Cheetah Village…"

"No." Cecil interrupted. "Take me to the capitol of the Empire. If it still stands."

"The Capitol?" Spyro asked. "What Capitol?"

"He means Warfang, Spyro." Cynder answered but looked at Cecil slightly confused. "But why Warfang? The Cheetahs are the closest; they aren't far from the mountain. They could take care of you."

"No, please. Take me to Warfang…take me home." Cecil said. "There, once we're rested. I can explain."

Spyro and Cynder nodded. Though reluctantly, they wanted information NOW. They wanted to know who exactly Persephone was…and why she was so focused on killing them.

The couple did not argue with the blind dragon. Spyro and Cynder quickly packed up what they would need for the journey to Warfang. Luckily they found Red and Green soulgems, which they would need, and three dragons quickly departed down the mountain.


	3. Chapter 2: The Forsworn have returned

**Chapter 2: The Forsworn have returned**

**A/N: Another chapter uploaded. We thank those who have reviewed so far, you guys are the best :)**

**Also, I would like to apologize to all of you. At times Cynder's name will come out as "cinder". Apparently, my computer will at times decide that it should change the name up at time. But I will try harder to fix that in the future. **

It was a cold day in Dante's Freezer. Snow was quickly falling from the sky and a harsh breeze made it feel like the air was colder than it already was. There were no animals roaming around because of the ongoing storm and the only noises that could be heard was the whistling wind.

There was a fort hidden within the mountainous terrain that would be difficult to spot unless someone travelled by sky while a storm wasn't raging as it was at the moment. No one was outside because of the storm, but this fort was in fact housed by wolves. These wolves weren't like the four legged canines who roamed the wilds. These wolves were anthromorphic like the cheetahs of Avalar and were capable of using swords and shields.

There was a dragon inside the fort and he was currently in an office some sort. This male dragon had dark gray scales with a gray blue underbelly and wing membranes. He had short black horns that pointed straight upwards and no tailblade. The dragon's most ominous feature was his eyes. They were yellow where eyes would usually be with and his irises were blood red. This dragon was sitting at a wooden desk and writing in what looked like a note or letter.

…

_To all members of the Forsworn,_

_ I, Oculos, have had the vision at last. I saw our leader, Persephone, rise from her slumber. She has awoken and we must reunite in this time of need. Come to our fort in Dante's Freezer as soon as you are able so we may rebuild our once strong army._

_We also have reason to believe that the grandchild of Spectra herself is working against us. DO NOT attempt to kill or apprehend them at the moment. We must form a plan before we begin our cleansing of this world. You are to avoid unnecessary attention until further notice and destroy this letter once it is read._

_ -Oculos, the Death Dragon_

…

The dark gray scaled dragon, now known as Oculos, set down the quell he was writing with and looked over the note he just finished writing. Satisfied with the end result, he stood up to have the letter printed and distributed to certain individuals.

He stopped however when he heard the window creak open and looked to his left. The breeze from outside whooshed out the open window. Oculos noticed that no one was around however but he was still fully alert. His unnatural looking eyes started glowing menacingly as he adopted a combat stance. All of a sudden, a dragoness seeped out of a cloud of shadows behind the male. She quickly leaned forward so she could whisper in his earhole.

"Hello, old friend." she greeted with a smirk.

Oculos gasped in surprise, but quickly calmed down when he recognized the voice. His eyes slowly stopped glowing and he looked over his shoulder at the dragoness.

"So, my vision was right. It's good to see you again, Persephone." the death dragon said with a chuckle as he fully turned around to face the dragoness.

"Yes, I have returned. May we sit?" she asked as she nodded towards the seating pillows on the other side of the office.

Oculos nodded and the sat across from one another. They took a moment to get comfortable before they faced each other again.

"What has happened since my absence?" Persephone asked, getting straight to the point.

"Malefor failed us. He needlessly smashed dragon eggs at the Guardian temple, started a genocide against dragons, and he failed the Forsworn. He was even stopped by a pair of hatchlings." the death dragon explained with a heavy frown.

"He killed children!? And betrayed his own race!?" the dragoness yelled in rage.

Oculos nodded with a sigh and she growled.

"That pathetic bastard! We do many questionable things, but killing children is against everything we stand for! I should have never wasted my time influencing him!" Persephone roared.

The death dragon patiently waited for her to finish yelling and calm down. Once she did, he spoke up again.

"Now that you're back, what do we do now?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, making the dragoness smirk.

"It's time to announce my return…the first to know will be Warfang." Persephone replied with a dark chuckle at the end.

**...**

Spyro, Cynder, and Cecil have been traveling down the snowy mountain for awhile now. The sun was starting to rise in the distance and they were far enough down that there were only clumps of snow here and there. They had found a dirt path earlier and were using it to navigate off the mountain. The two mates also made sure to support the blind dragon as they walked so he wouldn't wander off or trip on something.

They eventually came to a t-intersection and they looked both ways, except for Cecil because he was blind, trying to figure out which way to go. They saw a carriage approaching them from their left and patiently waited for the driver to get close enough so they could ask for directions.

The carriage itself was made of wood and being pulled by two horses. The driver was a brown furred mole with glasses and a thick fur coat to keep him warm against the harsh cold. The fur under his chin was longer than the rest as well, making it look like he had a beard. His eyes widened when he saw the three dragons and he stopped as soon as he was close enough to them.

"Are you three Spyro, Cynder, and Lord Cecil?" the little mole asked with amazement in his voice.

"Yeah, that's us." Spyro answered and Cynder looked away, thinking that the carriage driver would call her a monster or a murderer.

"By the Ancestors… it really is you! You three are heroes!" the mole cheered excitedly. "What can I do for you two?" he asked once he calmed down enough.

"We require directions… to Warfang we travel." Cecil explained calmly as he looked at the carriage's general direction.

"Directions? Damned to that idea. Climb on back and I'll take you there myself." the bearded mole offered with a warm smile.

The three dragons smiled as well, appreciative of his generosity, and climbed into the carriage's seats behind the driver. They made themselves comfortable as the horses started moving down the trial again.

"She came to me one morning; one lonely Sunday morning; her long hair flowing in the midwinter wind… I know not how she found me; for in darkness I was walking; and destruction lay around me; from a fight I could not win… aaahhh ahhaaahhh aaahhh…" the bearded mole sand as they traveled down the mountain.

Many hours passed during the trip and the sun was now fully over the horizon. The three dragons simply listened to the mole's songs and occasionally napped. They eventually saw the city of Warfang in the distance and they all perked their heads up.

"Welcome to Warfang." the mole said with a smile as they approached the city gates.

...

Many people had gathered around the three when they had entered the city. Dragons, Cheetahs, Moles and many other people alike cheered the return of Spyro and Cynder, the ones who defeated The Dark Master and saved the world. Despite Cynder's past, the people looked passed that, no longer caring if Cynder was once the "Terror of the Skies". Spyro noticed Cynder smile lightly, Spyro know that she now felt like she belonged somewhere and that she was not an outcast. But as the group made their way to the center of the city, people began to notice Cecil, the White Dragon. Murmurs began to follow, and as Spyro and Cynder guided the blind dragon, multiple dragons bowed their head as Cecil passed them.

Eventually, the group arrived at the center of the city, where Warfang's Temple resided. The group walked up the stairs, and as they reached the top step, the three were greeted by three familiar dragons; Terrador, Cyril and Volteer. The three surviving Guardians and old friends of Spyro's mentor, Ignitus. Then there was…a small glowing Dragonfly.

"Spyro! Man your alive!" Sparx yelled out happily, flying up to his foster brother.

Spyro smiled as his long time companion flew around him happily.

"Sparx, good to see you to!" Spyro said happily.

Sparx smiled. "Man! I thought you were dead…I mean! The world was FALLING apart! And then! Everything glowed…and floated back together…and then and then…and then…" Sparx spoke rapid fire.

"Geez Sparx," Cynder said smiling as she stepped forward. "Think about what you're gonna say before you spit it out."

Sparx looked at Cynder…

'_Oh boy…'_ Spyro thought.

"Cynder…" Sparx began, his two arms crossed.

There was a silence that followed between the two. Sparx had never liked Cynder due to Cynder almost killing both him and Spyro. But he was willing to trust Cynder with looking after Spyro when they went through the belt of fire to face Malefor. But right now, Spyro had no idea how Sparx would treat Cynder. He got his answer a few seconds later.

"Thank you…" Sparx said, out of nowhere. Spyro looked at Sparx with a surprised look, Cynder was shocked as well. "For looking after my brother…"

Cynder felt touched…remembering the promise she gave to Sparx. Cynder smiled. "Of course Sparx…"

Sparx crossed his arms uncomfortably. Almost as if he was going to say something else.

Spyro knew that Sparx felt uncomfortable addressing Cynder as a friend…and was trying to find the right words.

Cynder was the one who spoke first. "But don't think we're BEST friends now…you little glowing mosquito." Cynder said playfully.

Sparx smiled lightly and just nodded.

"It is good to see you both alive." Sparx said happily, before being silent, seeing Terrador and the others approaching.

"Spyro, Cynder." Terrador said. Bowing his head. "You have done the world a good service." Terrador looked around at the group, almost as if he and the others were looking for someone else.

Spyro and Cynder lowered their heads. Knowing that they were wondering where Ignitus was.

"Ignitus…" Spyro said, solemnly. "Sacrificed himself to allow Cynder and I to get through the belt of fire…there was nothing we could do."

Terrador, Cyril and Volteer nodded.

"At least," Cyril began; his tone was calm unlike his normal prideful tone. "His sacrifice was not in vein. You two made sure of that."

Spyro and Cynder said nothing.

"We will hold a memorial for him later…" Terrador began, but trailed off when he finally noticed Cecil. "By the Ancestors…is that…it can't be! Lord Cecil?!" The Earth dragon said in shock.

The White dragon nodded his head. Slowly, the three guardians bowed their heads in respect of the blind dragon.

"Welcome home," The three dragons said at once. "Prophet of the Goddess."

"Guardians of Earth, Ice and Electricity." Cecil began respectfully, looking in the direction of the guardians, Spyro and cinder figured that he sensed their auras somehow. Cecil continued "I salute you."

The three guardians stood.

"Remarkable…" Volteer said his voice excited. "How could this be possible? The stories are true! Yes! The Empress did put you in Crystal stasis and…"

"Calm down Volteer," Terrador began, interrupting Volteer's stream of words. Volteer slowly took a breath and nodded. Terrador looked at Cecil and bowed his head. "There is much you should fill us in on Lord Cecil…our grand fathers, the guardians before us, knew you personally. But they did not know the circumstances of why you vanished."

Cecil nodded. "I will fill you in…Guardian Terrador. But much has changed; I sense…a change in the flow of Mana in the world. Things seem out of balance, even with Malefor gone."

"We will inform you of what has happened in your absence Lord Cecil." Cyril said, respectfully.

Cecil bowed his head. "Thank you." He looked in Spyro and Cynder's directions respectively. "I owe my awakening to Spyro and Cynder… and from what I understand; the entire world owes them for their heroic deeds."

"Indeed we do," Terrador said smiling at his pupils. The earth dragon looked at Cyril. "My friend, show Spyro and Cynder to their room in the temple...Volteer and I will guide Lord Cecil to the council room, and inform the others that there will be a council meeting in an hour. All Guardians must be present…"

Cyril nodded. "Of course." He turned to Cynder and Spyro. "Follow me, I am pretty sure you two will love your rooms and the Temple over all…full of culture including that of the Ice dragons." Cyril said as he guided the two dragons and Sparx into the temple.

Sparx hovered next to Spyro's ear. "Oh great," He whispered. "He's gonna tell us the whole history of his ancestors…"

Spyro smiled lightly. It almost felt like back when they were in the old Temple where Ignitus and the others taught him how to use his powers. But…the fact that Ignitus was gone, didn't make these times feel like the old days. But Spyro was happy, happy that things were getting back to normal. But the thoughts of the Dragoness; Persephone, made Spyro think that things were not going to be "Normal" for quite some time.

…

**Forty minutes later:**

Spyro and Cynder walked through the marble halls of the temple. Admiring the design of the temple. It was similar to the Temple back in the swamp, but this was much bigger. Throughout the hallways, there were statues of dragons of old. Banners showing the insignias of the different elements. Much to Spyro's surprise, he learned there were not just four elements…but NINE.

Fire, Ice, Earth, Electricity were the elements he had mastered so far…but he now learned that the other five were Water, Wind, Sand, Rock and Darkness. Though he was slightly confused about some of the elements such as "Earth, Sand and Rock". But he learned from Cynder that Earth would be referred to as the controlling of forest materials. While Rock and Sand were different.

Spyro figured he hadn't learned the other elements yet due to the fact that the Guardians he learned from were the current guardians, and the other guardians had been killed off before he was born. At least now new guardians had taken the remaining five positions.

As Spyro and Cynder entered the courtyard and walked down the steps and into the center of the Courtyard, Spyro and Cynder stopped and looked up at a statue of a dragoness at the foot of the steps.

Spyro looked up at the statue. The Dragoness stood on all four of her limbs, with her wings extended and her head held high. Around her neck was an armor collar, which had nine glowing gems embedded into it. The colors represented the different elements.

"The statue is of Spectra," Spyro said, looking at his mate. "Right?"

Cynder nodded. "Right." She said. "Legend has it, she created the first Dragons. And that the dragons of today are the First Dragon's descendents."

"So what Hunter said about Dragons being revered…he was referring to how Spectra created the dragons?" Spyro asked. Cynder nodded.

"Yeah, but not only that. But in other cultures…before the races even knew the Dragons existed, the other races always portrayed their deity as a Dragoness. And no matter what language they spoke, the name of their deity translated to the same name…" Cynder paused.

Spyro looked at the statue of the Goddess. "Spectra…"

Cynder nodded. "That's why the races revered the Dragons, because Spectra is their goddess to."

"Even the apes revered Spectra?" Spyro asked. Cynder nodded.

"That was before Malefor came…" Cynder answered.

Spyro nodded. He was about to ask more, until the two heard a massive explosion coming from the Temple's training room. The two dragons quickly ran for the Dojo.

When they entered, the entered a large circular room which was similar to the Temple back in the swamp.

They saw two fire dragons training, one was a dragoness, she was the trainer, and the other was a Fire dragon close to Spyro and Cynder's age. Spyro saw that his eyes were filled with anger, and that he had a cloak of fire hovering around him as though he had just come out of a Fire Fury attack. The Dragoness smirked and avoided the dragon's furious swipes.

"Come on Blaze!" She yelled, tauntingly. "You wanna control your powers, you gotta hit me first. You're just to slow! To careless! To WEAK!"

"SHUT UP!" The Dragon roared, his fire cloak becoming stronger. Suddenly, he rose to his hind feet, and fire began surround him, a Fire Fury eminent.

"Whoa…" Spyro and Cynder said at once.

Suddenly, a small blast of fire mana flew in all directions, but it was weaker than a standard Fire Fury. After the explosion subsided, the dragon, Blaze, lowered to the floor, and collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.

The Dragoness appeared unharmed and placed her left paw over his neck.

"You're out Blaze…" The Dragoness said.

"But I'm not!" Someone yelled.

Suddenly, from above, a bolt of electricity flew downwards at the Dragoness, who merely side stepped away and blew fire up at the unknown attacker. Suddenly, and Electric dragoness appeared in the training circle.

The Dragoness had gold scales, white underbelly and wing membranes, six white lightning shaped horns and a white lightning shaped tailblade.

The Fire Dragoness smirked. "Good work Electra. Never heard you coming…for once…"

Electra smiled. But was taken off guard when The Fire Dragoness charged forward through Comet Dash, an advanced fire technique where the dragon engulfs themselves in fire and charges forward in a burst of speed. The Fire dragoness swiped out with her tail, tripping the young dragoness, and she put her foot on Electra's side.

"And you're out to…" The Fire Dragoness said. Slowly, Blaze stood up, his eyes held no emotion much to Spyro and Cynder's surprise since just a few seconds ago he was as angry as could be. The Fire dragoness looked at Blaze and then said. "Training is over, you two did good…but you need more practice…oh and hello!"

The Fire dragoness had just now noticed Spyro and Cynder.

Spyro and Cynder walked forward to the group.

"You must be Spyro and Cynder, heroes of Warfang." The Fire Dragoness said. "My name is Pyra, the new Fire Guardian." She then motioned to the two younger dragons. "And these are my students…well, student in this case. Blaze." Gesturing to the emotionless Fire dragon, who nodded. "And Electra, Volteer's student."

"Hi!" Electra said cheerfully.

Spyro and Cynder nodded.

"Hi," Spyro said. "My names Spyro. And this is Cynder."

"We already know that," Blaze said, his voice was emotionless and slightly rude.

"Blaze, manors." Pyra said sternly. She looked at the two dragons. "My apologies…Blaze…is still getting used to being around other people. He and his parents spent many years in hiding during the war. His parents put him under my tutelage to better train his…temper. Which is why I was taunting him...he has a special...trait."

"It's fine, really." Spyro said.

"HEY BLAZE!" The group heard a girl yell. The group turned to see two dragons running up to them, one was a dragoness who had dark blue scales and light blue wings, she had two horns which were white…and she had…gills?

The other was an older Ice dragon. He has blue scales, a white underbelly and four white horns which point straight forward, a spike tailblade and a skull shape branded on his thigh…he also had various war scars.

"Also," Pyra continued. "This is Spes," Pointing to the Ice dragon, who nodded. "And the Water Guardian's daughter, Tula." The Water dragon, now known as Tule, smiled.

"Hello…" Tula said, before turning to Blaze. "You were amazing!"

Blaze looked away briefly, blushing.

Electra then whispered to Spyro and Cynder. "Those two are in love…they just can't go out and say it." She said in a fast tone, similar to Volteer's…though not as fast.

"Anyways…" Pyra said. "Oh…the meeting!"

She looked at the other dragons. "Class dismissed. Tomorrow we work on observations!" She said. The students, minus Spes, who was not a student but a well trained soldier, nodded.

The others left, leaving Spyro, Cynder and Pyra alone.

Pyra looked at Spyro and Cynder. "Look, I know we just met…but Terrador wanted me to let you know that he would appreciate it if you would come to the meeting. I…sort of forgot to look for you…"

"It's fine," Spyro said. Pyra nodded.

"Well then…I guess you should follow me then." She said, motioning them to follow her.

As they left the dojo, Cynder looked up at Pyra.

"Pyra…" Cynder said.

"Hmm?" Pyra asked.

"Aren't you…" Cynder began. "You and Ignitus?"

Pyra was silent, Spyro looked at the two confused. Until Pyra nodded.

"Yes, I was Ignitus' lover…" She said.

Spyro looked at Pyra in shock. Pyra looked at Spyro and smiled.

"He spoke a lot about you…Spyro." Pyra said. "I miss him…but he died a hero."

Spyro and Cynder nodded, after that the group said nothing to each other.

…..

The council room was a large circular room with a circular table in the center of the room. On the walls were banners showing the insignia of the elements. Each banner was positioned on the wall behind a Guardian's respected seat. Each guardian sat at their respected seat at the table. But only one seat was left empty which was position at the head of the room.

The chair was a throne, had an indigo colored banner on the wall behind the throne. This is where Empress Emera once sat during Council meetings. Her throne was never occupied ever since she vanished a century before the war with the apes began. Her disappearance caused strife among the Empire.

Cecil sat at the opposite end of the table. Which was the same place he sat during the Council meetings back before he was encased by crystal.

Spyro and Cynder stood near the entrance to the council room, listening to the Guardians speak. They noticed the new guardians. Caius the Sand Guardian, Typhoon the Water Guardian, Rikku the female Rock Guardian, Skyress wind Guardian and Shade the Shadow guardian.

Each guardian wore a traditional robe with armor plating on their shoulders and had two armored Dragon Sentinels standing next to their seat. The Guardians had just filled Cecil in on everything. But now were getting to the issues at the present.

The water Guardian, Tula's father, Typhoon spoke up first.

"Now that the war is over, many of the races seek retribution for what the Apes have done to us." Typhoon said. "Personally, I do not blame them. After all, the Water dragons suffered much during the war. The Ape Mages poisoned our waters we lived in, causing many of us to suffocate and die in our own region."

Cecil nodded. "Your anger and want for retribution is understandable, Typhoon. But retribution will not bring back your fallen brothers and sisters."

"I know, but justice should be served." Typhoon said calmly, but Cecil could sense his anger. "To make them pay, I suggest that they give up some of their own, to be executed."

"No!" Terrador roared, his fist slamming on the table. "Typhoon! You need to remember that there were two factions! The ones who worshipped Malefor, and the ones who stayed with the Empire! Those who worshipped Malefor were transformed into Shadow Apes three years ago after Malefor was resurrected. The Apes now still serve the Empire. Empress Emera would NEVER allow this!"

"But the Apes who seceded from Gaul's rule did not secede until they knew that Malefor truly could not be trusted!" Typhoon roared. "They still fought and killed many of us!"

"And the sacrifice and redemption they showed during the war is not enough!" Terrador yelled.

"Tell that to the number of children we lost!" Typhoon yelled. "The poisoning of Trident Sanctuary killed almost five hundred of our people in the sanctuary, and they were all mothers and children! Now many of the waters we Water Dragons lived in can never be inhabited again!"

"Enough!" A dragoness yelled, the Stone dragon named Rikku. Her scales were colored a dark brown and she had a light brown underbelly, like Terrador she had a maze like tailblade. "You two are sounding like bickering children! Yes, what the Apes did was horrifying. But punishing them is unnecessary. The Shadow Apes were the ones who worshipped Malefor, and they are all dead. The Apes now still serve the Empire, punishment should not be needed."

Typhoon growled.

"Calm down old friend," The Sand Guardian, Caius said. He was a Light brown colored Dragon, with light brown golden eyes. His eyes were calm and emotionless. "We've all lost so many friends and allies. But we should not let these issues cause disorder among us."

Typhoon stared at Caius, and nodded reluctantly.

Caius looked at his fellow Guardians. "But the fact that there is disorder in the realms should not be ignored. In the deserts where Sand Dragon Clans live, there is rumors that there may be war among the Cheetah clans and the Lion clans…the conflicts that had arisen before Malefor and the apes declared war on the Empire are starting to resurface."

Terrador nodded. "Same in the Tall plains…many of the Atlawa and Apes are now in dispute about the land that was taken during the war." The Earth dragon rubbed his temples. "But here issues do not outweigh what Lord Cecil has explained to us…and the possible threat that will possibly arise soon…"

The guardians, minus Cyril and Volteer leaned forward. Terrador looked up at his allies.

"The Dragoness Persephone…" Terrador began. But suddenly, black flames appeared in the center of the table.

All of the Guardians stood up in shock. The Guardian's sentinels stood in front of their respected leader.

Slowly, the flames vanished…revealing a crystal, which soon projected the image of a grey colored Dragon.

Each of the Guardian's eyes widened. The image of the dragon looked at the guardians, his red eyes staring at everyone in the room. But eventually, his eyes focused on Spyro and Cynder, a smirk appeared over his lips.

He then spoke. _"Citizens of Warfang…" _

…

Outside the Temple, multiple crystals had mysteriously appeared throughout the city streets and markets. Each projecting the image of the dragon. Everyone watched in confusion as the Dragon began to speak.

"_For many years, the Tyranny of the goddess has blinded all of you of the true state of this imperfect world. Disorder ravages our world…but that will change."_

…

"_Know this, Warfang."_ The Dragon said. _"For many years, the Forsworn have been watching…and waiting for our time. But no longer. For the Mother of The Forsworn, has finally returned." _

Spyro and Cynder watched as the Dragon slowly stepped out of view of the projection, but as he vanished from view, his voice could still be heard. _"All hail…Lady Persephone."_

Then…the same dragoness that had attacked Spyro, Cynder and Cecil, appeared in the projection. She now wore traditional dragon robes. Her face held no emotion, but every guardian in the room growled.

Persephone finally spoke. _"The time for change is beginning."_ She said. _"Nowhere is safe from our just cause…I leave you with this; The Forsworn…Has returned." _

Suddenly, the crystal broke…and the image faded. The entire room was filled with silence. The guardians sat back down…Cecil closed his eyes.

"It is as I feared…" He muttered. Slowly he looked up at the Guardians. "Persephone has finally declared war on Spectra herself."

The guardians nodded.

Spyro stepped forward.

"Who is she?" Spyro asked. "She attacked us before…"

The guardians looked at one another, but it was Shade who spoke.

"Persephone…is an ancient Dragon of immense power." He spoke calmly. "Her exact age is unknown…but it is rumored to be about the same age of Empress Emera…and The Empress was immortal herself…

"Back before Malefor, Persephone had formed an Order of multiple Races, and named the group The Forsworn. Their goal…was to "Bring about a new age". But their means of achieving that was questionable."

Terrador nodded. "Yes, the stories say, Spyro, that Persephone attempted to kill the Empress. Due to the Empress being able to unify the other races willingly rather than through force."

"But she failed," Pyra said. "Due to Emera being one of the Ancient Dragons, the children of the Goddess, she was purely immortal. She could not be killed through mortal means. When that failed, Persephone vanished…we believed that she left the realm forever…but that was until she returned and corrupted Malefor."

"So…" Spyro said. "She caused Malefor to turn?"

The Guardians nodded.

Caius continued the story. "She then vanished again…but this time the Forsworn went into hiding…the Guardians thought that with her gone, the Forsworn would dissolve…or so they thought."

Cyril continued. "Then came the disappearance of Lord Cecil…and then years later The Empress."

The Guardians then all said. "And then, the war came."

Spyro looked at Cynder and then at the Guardians.

"What do you need us to do?" Spyro said.

"Spyro…" Terrador began.

"We can help." Cynder interrupted.

The guardians all looked at each other. Cecil smiled lightly and looked at Spyro and Cynder.

"Impressive determination…" He said. "If they would like to help…let them. They have the blessing of the Goddess."

The Guardians nodded. Cyril stood up and walked over to the two. He stopped in front of them.

"We believe that the Forsworn maybe hiding in Dante's Freezer…it was one of their bases of operations." Cyril explained.

"I remember Dante's Freezer." Spyro said. "So it shouldn't be hard to traverse."

Cynder nodded as well.

"Very well," Cyril said. "But to accompany you, I suggest you take Spes with you. A fine soldier he is."

Typhoon stood up from his seat. "I suggest you bring Tula, she is a skilled swimmer, regardless of the temp." Typhoon continued. "We also have a contact in the region. She will meet you near the southern shore."

Spyro and Cynder nodded.

"Thank you." The two said. Slowly the two left the room to begin their newest mission…

Cecil closed his eyes and whispered. "May the Ancestors and The Goddess look after you…"

**A/N: (The song the mole sang is called Lady in Black by a band called Ensiferum.)**

**The Characters Oculos, Electra and Spes are OC's created by Native Avenger.**


	4. Chapter 3: Infiltration

**Chapter 3: Infiltration**

**A/N: This is by far the longest chapter. Enjoy :)**

**Now, I know some of you are wondering why there are new Guardians who have taken up the empty roles so quickly. Each guardian, and future guardian, inherits the title through experience and lineage or unless a Guardian views a dragon as a potential candidate to eventually inherit the Role. In this case, the new Guardians were the oldest children of the previous fallen Guardians but were to busy in the war to be in Warfang. Pyra was chosen by Ignitus not just because of their relationship, but due to Pyra's skills being on the same level as his. Pyra was chosen by Ignitus to be his successor should something happen to him or should he step down.**

**Anyways, onto the story!  
**

Spyro and Cynder walked out of the council room and down the hall. They were happy to help the Guardians when they were needed. They quickly made their way out of the temple and into the courtyard outside.

Spes was standing by the gates and he turned to face them when he heard them. The two young dragons walked over to him with friendly smiles, making him raise an eyebrow at them.

"Hello, Spes was it?" Spyro greeted politely, expecting him to praise them in some way like everyone else.

"That's me. What do you want?" the ice dragon questioned gruffly, taking the two young dragons off guard.

"The Guardians want us to go to Dante's Freezer together to see what the Forsworn are up to." Cynder explained with a frown, not liking his attitude.

"When will the Guardians realize that I'm not a soldier anymore? I dropped out of the fucking military three years ago." Spes said angrily, but not directed towards them.

"Um… are you okay?" Spyro asked hesitantly, not at all used to such language or hostility towards the Guardians.

"No, not really. I joined the Warfang military three years ago, got captured by the fuckin apes, and they tortured me for days!" the ex-soldier explained loudly as he motioned towards the scars covering his body and the skull shape branded on his thigh.

The two hatchlings shivered as they looked at the burn mark. They didn't even want to imagine how that happened to him.

"We're sorry if we made you upset." Cynder said quietly with her head down, making the older dragon sigh.

"I'm not mad at you, just the Guardians. I understand that they just want what's best, but they ask for too much most of the time. Look, I'll go with you two, but I'm doing it for me, not because those politicians asked me to." he told them both.

The two lovers smiled at this and were about to walk off, but stopped when Sparx flew up to all three of them.

"Hey bro! I'm glad I could find you before you left!" the yellow dragonfly called as he flew up to the purple dragon's face.

"Hey Sparx. What do you need?" Spyro asked with a warm smile directed towards his brother.

"I know that we usually go on adventures together, but I kinda miss home…" Sparx replied with a quiet sigh.

"You can go home if you want. I'll make sure to visit from time to time." The purple dragon promised, his smile never deafening.

"Thanks, bro." the dragonfly said with a smile as he hugged his brother's snout,

Once he pulled away, he flew over to Cynder. They simply nodded to each other before he flew off to go back home. Once Sparx left, Spes turned to face the two younger dragons again.

"Should I even ask?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I was raised by a couple of dragonflies and he was their son, hence making us foster brothers." Spyro explained with an awkward smile.

Spes just shrugged and looked up at the clear skies above them.

"We should probably get moving. We have much ground to cover. I suggest we quickly get some supplies before we leave." the ex-soldier suggested with a frown.

He looked towards Spyro and Cynder to see them nod. With that, they took flight with a mighty flap of their wings. Together, all three dragons flew for the market district. It didn't take long for them to reach said district and they landed in front of one of the stores.

"C'mon." Spes ordered the two young dragons as he walked into the building.

Spyro and Cynder followed him inside and they looked around to see that the store sold clothes that were meant for dragons.

"We're gonna get something to keep us warm, aren't we?" Cynder said more as a statement rather than a question.

"You two are. Us ice dragons are resistant to cold. Don't worry, I'll pay for everything." the older dragon answered.

The two lovers nodded in understanding, appreciative that he was thinking of them, and looked around the store. It didn't take long for them to find something they could use. Spyro chose some light brown furred armor that covered most of his body except his wings, head, and claws. Cynder got a polar bear pelt that acted as a hooded robe, which contrasted with her black scales. It covered most of her body, but not her wings, horns, and face.

"That'll do." Spes commented when the two dressed dragons walked up to him.

Spyro and Cynder smiled and nodded in thanks before he payed for their clothes. Once that was done, they left the store. They walked out of the building and looked at the other markets. They made sure to buy some food for their journey as well as a few spirit and life gems. Once they were ready to go, they packed their new supplies in bags strapped to their sides and made their way to the city gates.

Spyro, Cynder and Spes had just arrived at the massive city gates. At the moment, the three were waiting for the last member of their group to Arrive; Tula. After waiting ten extra minutes, they finally saw the young Water dragon running towards them, smiling excitedly.

"Hey guys!" She said happily. She slid to a stop in front of the three. She had two packs strapped to her side…and judging on how she looked, she seemed excited.

"You're late Tula…again…" Spes said, slightly annoyed.

"Oh relax Spes," Tula said a happy grin on her face. "You know we Water Dragons have to be extra prepared!" Slowly she looked into her packs, opened it and revealing several containers of water.

"Dante's Freezer has plenty of Water…" Spes said, annoyed.

"No, it's full of ICE." Tula retorted.

"Same thing." Spes countered calmly.

"Yeah, but can we swim in it?" Tula commented.

Spes was silent.

Tula grinned. "My point exactly."

Tula turned to Spyro and Cynder and grinned and ran up to the two.

"Hey you two!" She said. The two dragons smiled lightly, though felt wierded out at the dragoness' cheerful exterior. "We're gonna work great! And I'm finally going to leave Warfang! First time in three years!"

"You haven't left the city in that long?" Spyro asked.

"Right," Tula seemed to sadden. "My mother and I lived in the Trident Sanctuary for a majority of my life. But when the Ape's discovered the sanctuary, and since it was underwater, our natural habitat, they poisoned the waters…my mother and older sister died. After that, Father brought me to Warfang." She looked at the ground sadly and looked at Cynder. "You lead the raid…"

Cynder looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry…" She began. But Tula interrupted.

"Don't be!" Tula said. "I understand! You weren't yourself. Plus, I was in Warfang when you killed the Golemn. I was putting out the fires alongside the other water dragons. You two were AMAZING!"

Spyro and Cynder blushed.

"Anyways!" Tula said, turning to Spes. "Can't wait to swim in the open oceans! Can I? You know how much I've been waiting to be out in the open oceans! It's every young Water Dragons dreams to swim where the Ancient Water dra…"

"OKAY!" Spes said loudly. "Tula, calm down. You can swim in the oceans when we fly over!"

Tula grinned and hugged the ex-soldier.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Tula yelled happily. Spes rolled his eyes, obviously feeling slightly uncomfortable and annoyed with the water dragon, and plus the centuries up on the high wall of the gates were watching.

"Okay," Spes said, calming the eccentric water dragon. "That's enough."

Spyro and Cynder smiled lightly at seeing the hyper dragon so excited.

"Well," Spyro said to the others as he walked forward. "Let's go!"

Up on top of the gates, two moles quickly released the mechanism for the gates, and slowly the gates opened. Spyro, Cynder, Tula and Spes walked forward, exiting the gates. Then, seconds later, with one strong flap of their wings, they flew off into the sky. The journey to Dante's Freezer beginning.

….

Cecil sat inside the Pool of Vision's chamber…staring blankly into the pool of glowing emerald green water.

It had been a few hours since Spyro, Cynder and their new allies had left the City. The sun had just set, and he had just eaten. The Blind dragon was tired, but he knew his sleep could wait after his meditation.

He remembered back when he first became the Prophet of Spectra…how at first he was frightened when he no longer could see. He remembered how the voices were just words to him. Even when his care takers looked after him and tried to sooth him…he was still frightened. Then came the random times he would have visions of the future. They scared him…he eventually had nightmares…until he finally met her. Empress Emera.

The Empress was able to relax the young prophet…by singing a song to him when he was little. She would visit him, and comfort him whenever he had a frightening vision. Eventually, after two years, when he was five, he became used to the visions and would tell the Empress the visions he had. By the time he was six, he had fully accepted his role as the Prophet. Though he was blind, he wanted to learn from his teachers about the different races and their cultures. By the age of eight, the young Prophet had a full understanding of each culture and their likes, dislikes and traditions. When council meetings took place, he would sit in his chair, and would understand what the Guardians were talking about. The Empress and The Guardians did not hesitate to ask the prophet of his opinions and the Prophet would offer his views respectively. Even at a young age, the old guardians and the Empress viewed the Prophet as an equal.

But now…now Cecil was still getting used to this new time. How things have changed…thousands of lives lost…it was tragic to the prophet. Countless stories burned…countless lives lost…how many children would never know their fathers or mothers? How many parents lost their children, old or young.

Though Malefor was gone. The Prophet knew all too well how dangerous The Forsworn were. He only hopped, that Spyro and Cynder could help prevent the conflicts that are threatening to return…because at this moment…War was drawing awfully close.

….

**The White Isle:**

The entire History of the Dragon race was left in his possession, Ignitus, The New Chronicler. When the Chronicler had passed on his title to the former Fire Guardian, the once red and orange dragon's scales changed to a light blue and grey. Over his body, he wore the attire of The Chronicler; a black robe with a golden armor collar over his neck.

Ignitus had spent the past seventy two hours looking through the pages of the countless books inside the Library. At first, his goal had been to locate his former student, Spyro and his companion Cynder. But after hours of searching, the former Fire master has successfully found them…and was relieved to see that they were alive. But…hours after he had confirmed that they were alive, something made Ignitus worry.

He did not know what it was exactly, but he spent the past three days looking through the books, searching for what has caused him to feel disturbed.

As Ignitus opened another book, he starred up at the giant hourglass in the center of the circular library. The glowing blue sand that fell through to the bottom of the glass seemed to be unending…which was boring to look at for so long. Ignitus slowly took his attention back to the recently written books, which he had "Chronicled". The more he read the books, the more he wondered if the disturbance he felt was false…but Ignitus was never one for taking chances.

But the dragon began to grow tired of the fact that none of the information he found about the present state of the world was what he was looking for. By the Ancestors, he was getting tired and annoyed. But as he was about to put the book away with his telekinesis…he felt the ground begin to tremble…Ignitus looked up at the hourglass…and then up at the circular opening in the ceiling. Ignitus then looked back at the book…Ignitus soon realized; that what he was looking for may not originate from the present…but from the past?

Ignitus summoned one of the older books, a book one that was written by the first Chronicler, when The Dragon Empire was not yet formed. Back when the races were separate. But, Ignitus noticed the book looked…slightly different than the others.

Ignitus slowly opened the book…and looked through it's contents.

….

_A mother's voice could be heard, singing. _

_The Hatchling thrashed around next to her mother. The newborn was frightened, not used to the new world she had just entered. Tears streamed down the babies eyes. But as the Hatchling thrashed around in confusion and fear her mother continued to sing to her newborn. _

_ The mother hummed her tone to her baby for several minutes, but eventually the baby began to settle down, her eyes opening up for the first time. The first thing the baby saw was her mother's beautiful golden eyes. The baby slowly calmed upon seeing her mother for the first time and continued to listen to her mother's song, which soothed the young one. Eventually, the baby's eyes began to grow tired and slowly, she leaned her head against her mother's chest. As the mother came to a conclusion in her song, the baby began to drift to sleep peacefully. Feeling safe next to her mother._

_The mother, who's scales reflected the different colors of the spectrum, smiled, and lowered her head towards her newborn and lightly kissed her newborn's forehead. _

_"Welcome my daughter…rest well…I will protect you."_

**_We all started off that way. Frightened and Angry. But Mother's song soothed all of us. No matter how much we squirmed. She was there, singing to us. The song we all remember since the time of our birth. _**

**_I was one of many. We all miss her. But she promised all of us we would never be alone and that she would never leave us. She put us on the worlds with the mortal races so we could guide them. I watched countless civilizations fall…but like my brothers and sisters, I kept hidden._**

**_…_**

**The skies over "Dante's Ocean" **

"CANNON DIVE BOMB!" Tula yelled as she dove head first into the ocean a hundred feet below. The Water dragon cheered as landed into the clear blue water.

Spyro, Spes and Cynder watched from the skies as the young Water Dragoness swam at fast speeds through the water. Spes shook his head.

"She'll never change…" Spes muttered. The three dragons flew on their intended course while Tula swam underwater, keeping up with the others while under the water.

Spyro noticed how the time passed…she had not come up for air for about…twenty minutes. Spyro looked at Spes. Spes noticed the confused purple dragon.

"She's a Water Dragon," Spes said. "They, unlike the rest of the dragons, have gills on their neck which allow them to breathe both air and water. So they're used to spending most of their lives underwater."

"That's amazing," Spyro said. He always wondered what it would be like to live and breathe underwater…

"Yeah…I prefer the cold though." Spes muttered. "Anything too hot for me makes me uncomfortable." He muttered even quieter.

Spyro nodded. "Understandable…You know, since I'm kind of an Ice dragon myself."

"I know." Spes said.

After an hour, Tula flew up out of the water and joined the other three in the air. When she reached their height, she shook her entire body, cold water splashing next to the others. Spyro and Cynder smiled as they playfully bumped into Tula, who smirked. A Half Hour later, land could be seen.

"There it is…" Spes said emotionlessly. "Dante's freezer…"

Spyro, Cynder and Tula looked on as they saw the frozen land ahead of them, with the ruins of several fortresses. When they flew closer to land. The group hovered in the air briefly. Until they heard a high pitched "Scream" The group looked around.

Cynder looked at the others. "That sounded like a Fear Breath…"

"It's a signal." Spes said. Soon, another Fear breath scream could be heard, they followed the sound, and eventually they saw someone on the ground.

The group landed on the ground, and approached a dragon wearing similar robes that Spyro was wearing.

Spes seemed to recognize the Dragon.

"Where's Luna?" Spes asked.

The Dragon shrugged, his face could not be seen from underneath the hood.

"She told me to signal you four in…said she'll meet up with us later." The Dragon said.

Spyro, Tula and Cynder walked forward. When Cynder heard the voice, Spyro noticed she raised an eyebrow.

Spes stepped to the side.

He then says. "Guys, this is one of our contacts in Dante's Freezer…He's a fear dragon…named…"

"Mentem!" Cynder suddenly said, shocked.

Spyro and Tula saw Cynder's shocked look and looked at the Dragon, who slowly removed his hood.

The dragon had yellow eyes, crimson colored scales, and a dark red underbelly and wing membranes, was hornless and had a black spear-like tailblade.

The Dragon smiled lightly. "Hey…Cynder…"

...

Cynder stared at the fear dragon in complete shock while the others looked at them with confused expressions. She couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at him. She thought she'd never see him again.

"Um… Cyn? Who is he?" Spyro asked awkwardly and the others shared his curiosity.

The black dragoness couldn't bring herself to answer, so the dragon she was staring at stepped forward.

"Back when Cynder was first corrupted by Malefor, she killed my parents and kidnapped me when I was young. She turned me into her slave and kept me as her slave for years." Mentem explained calmly with a straight face.

Everyone, but Cynder was taken aback from this and turned their heads to look at her. None of them knew that she once owned a slave and said slave was standing before them as they spoke. She felt awful from being reminded of this and her lip quivered slightly from the intense guilt.

"I'm sorry…" was all she could say as she whimpered quietly.

"Don't be. I know you weren't in the right state of mind at the time. I forgive you." the fear dragon assured her as he walked right up to her and gently rested a paw on her shoulder.

Cynder was taken off guard from this and her eyes widened as she looked at his yellow eyes under his hood. She let a small smile spread across her lips however and she stopped whimpering.

"I don't get it. I rescued Cynder and took her away from her tower. How did you survive with her gone?" Spyro couldn't help, but ask and Tula smiled.

"After you shook my former mistress away, the apes found me and brought me with them wherever they went. They would often beat me and call me names because I don't have horns. Then one day, a band of water dragons found the ape camp I was imprisoned in at the time and wiped all the furry bastards out. Tula and her father, Typhoon, were part of the group actually and they found me. They rescued me and raised me and now… here we are." the fear dragon explained with a smirk at the end.

He also lowered his hood to probe to them that he was in fact hornless. His head was simply bald and only held crimson red scales like the rest of his body. None of them commented on this however and he reached into his robe. He pulled out what looked like a black tricorn hat and placed it firmly on his head, hiding his bald scalp.

'I've never seen a hat like that before.' Spyro thought to himself, but he decided not to voice his thoughts at the moment.

"So, you and Tula know each other. Interesting." Spes commented as his eyes traveled form Mentem to the water dragoness.

"Yep! We're like best friends!" Tula cheered as she speed-walked up to the fear dragon and draped one of her wings over his shoulders.

Mentem smiled at her hyperactive behavior despite the fact that he usually didn't like being the center of attention. Seeing her so happy always made him happy as well.

"Well um, when is Luna gonna be joining us?" the former soldier asked, wanting to get back on topic.

"She told me that she'll meet up with us in a bit. I suggest we build a small camp to keep us warm." the fear dragon replied as he Tula separated herself from him.

The group nodded and were about to leave, but they stopped when they heard a snapping sound. They looked towards a large pile of ice to see it now had a spider-web of cracks. The ice shattered all of a sudden and three humanoid figures jumped out of their icy prison.

The three creatures looked like they have been long dead due to their decayed bodies. Their bones were pale white, scraps of green flesh stuck to their bodies; they possessed white bears, and their eyes were purely green. They were each wearing black and red armor that covered everything, but their chests, arms, and faces. Their helmets had black horns sticking out of the sides and the armor as a whole looked very old. On their left hand was a weathered black shield to protect them and they carried large black cleavers on their right.

"Ghouls." both Mentem and Spes said in unison with heavy frowns.

All of the dragons got into combat stances with determined expressions. Spyro remembered how he and had to fight both the apes and these creatures when he last came to Dante's Freezer in order to rescue the Electric Guardian, Volteer. Cynder recalled them as well when she was still in her dark form.

The undead creature to the far left took a step forward and growled menacingly at them all. Spes responded by tackling it to the ground and commenced to slash at its face. While the other ghouls were distracted, Spyro and Cynder ran towards the one in the middle and fired their elements at it. He used his fire breath on the creature while the black dragoness used her fear shriek to keep it still. The monster burned to a crisp with little resistance and fell to the ground once its life was no more.

As this happened, Mentem and Tula ran toward the ghoul on the right. The water dragoness shot a stream of boiling hot water at the creature, but it quickly raised it's shield to protect itself. It didn't notice the fear dragon sneak around it however before it felt a piercing pain in its back. The undead creature looked over its shoulder to see that Mentem had stuck his spear-like tailblade into its spine. It shrieked loudly in pain as Tula ran forward and breathed a jet stream of boiling water into its exposed chest. It eventually stopped moving and they both let its lifeless body fall to the snowy ground with a thud.

Spes was having a little more trouble than everyone else. The ghoul ended up getting the upper hand by rolling over so it was on top. The undead monster ended up dropping its cleaver and shield in the struggle, but it was still pinning him down and trying to bite him with its razor sharp teeth.

"Get… the fuck… OFF ME!" the former soldier roared as he clawed at the monster's face with each pause.

He eventually kicked it off and it fell to the ground. Before the ghoul could get up again, he stormed to his feat and shot an ice spike at its face, killing it instantly.

"Fuckin bitch." he growled angrily before he shook the snow and saliva it left behind off his scales.

He was the last to end his opponent and they all visibly relaxed. They remembered that they needed to make a camp and moved away from the area to find a less hostile area to stay at.

...

The five dragons had set up camp inside a cave and out of the blizzard, which was kicking up snowflakes to the point where one could hardly see what was directly in front of them.

After spending a few minutes gathering fire wood, Spyro lit the branches with his fire breath, creating a strong fire for the group to sit around. Out of the group, Spes sat the farthest away. Spyro and Cynder sat together, both looking at the cackling fire. Tula and Mentem were speaking with each other, Tula telling Mentem about the message The Forsworn had sent to Warfang.

"Explains the recent stir here…" Mentem says. "Luna and I have been out here for months, the Guardians still wanted to keep an eye on the Forsworn, even if they have been silent for all of these years. But a few days ago, roughly a few hours after the world came back together; Luna and I have noticed that Forsworn scouts seem to be more excited. With Persephone back…it explains that they're excited that their "Mother" has finally returned."

"Father believes that the wolves maybe involved…" Tula says. "You don't think Luna would…"

"No," Mentem answered. "Luna would never turn her back on The Empire, let alone her friends."

"Are you sure about that?" Spes said from across the cave. Spyro and Cynder looked over at the ex-soldier, they said nothing, not knowing much about the conversation. "After all, the wolves hold resentment towards the Dragons and the other races due to the events that transpired during the war."

"But some of the Clans remained with the Empire." Mentem defended. "Yes, they feel resentment, but they wouldn't turn on us…"

"Don't kid yourself Mentem." Spes said, looking out at the cave entrance. "War can change people."

Mentem was about to counter, until a female's voice could be heard from the darkest part of the cave.

"Yes, but sometimes for the better." Echoed a female's voice. The dragons quickly stood up quickly, seeing a bipedal figure step forward from the shadows. The woman wore a fur winter cowl and cloak, similar to Hunter's, but was grey in color and had a crossbow strapped to her back. Slowly, the woman pulled her cowl down.

The woman was a wolf, whose fur was white as the snow. She had piercing silver eyes which seemed intimidating, yet calm.

"Luna." Mentem said smiling. The wolf, now indentified as Luna, nodded smiling lightly.

"Sorry I'm late, partner." Luna said.

"No problem at all…encountered a few Ghouls, but other than that, no trouble." Mentem said.

"Good," Luna said. "If we encountered any Forsworn or killed any of them, our job would be harder." She turned to the others and her eyes landed on Spyro and Cynder.

She stepped forward, placed her left hand over her chest and bowed her head.

"Forgive me," Luna said politely. "My name is Luna; it is an honor to meet you, Purple Dragon Spyro, and Cynder."

Spyro and Cynder bowed their heads in return.

"Nice to meet you." The two said. Luna nodded.

"I received a hawk from The Guardians, telling me you would arrive." She said. "I don't have much time to explain, so we must make this short." Luna said quickly. "The Forsworn are having a priority Gathering, which Persephone will be present at. This will be our chance to see what has stirred Persephone to return NOW. I've taken the liberty to steal some Forsworn clothing." She paused as she kneeled and opened her bag, pulling out five sets of robes, meant for dragons. The dragons stepped closer. She looked at each of them.

"We could storm the fort, but with the Dragoness present, that would not be wise. So we will need to sneak inside. There are woods a few miles ahead, Wolf sentries are hidden in the trees, and so if we were to step even a foot into those woods without a disguise, we'll be dead."

"Smart idea." Spes commented.

Luna nodded. "We'll depart in a few minutes, any questions?"

"Yes," Spyro said. "You said that the archers in those woods were wolves…I thought the wolves were aligned with the Empire?"

Luna stood up, and crossed her arms.

"The Wolves live in different clans; each clan has its own culture." Luna paused. "Before the war began, all of the Wolf clans pledged their support to the Dragon Empire…however…when Malefor attacked, our clans were always few in number…so we were the "Easiest" to fight." Luna paused and smirked. "Tell that to the Apes who were killed I guess…but though we were fierce fighters…each clan was surrounded…many of our people were killed. By year two of the war…originally the number of wolves had been in the millions…we soon fell to the thousands. Many of our people were enslaved and put into concentration camps."

"Did the dragons do anything?" Spyro asked…but he already knew the answer.

Luna looked away briefly and then said bitterly. "No…they were too busy fighting their own conflicts…while countless of our clans starved and suffered."

Spes stepped forward. "You know we couldn't drop what we were doing; every race was on their own until the final three years of the war. But even then, the remnants of the Empire's Paladin Corps sent in Ops teams to liberate how many people they could…"

"Yes…but you were already too late." Luna said. "The Forsworn had already acted; they saved a majority of the clans' 'saviors'. Though a majority of the clans knew The Forsworn's connection to Malefor, most accepted the Forsworn as "The truth"." Luna paused. "But even with a majority of our clans still aligned with your Empire, we still hold resentment towards your race. And personally, I don't blame our other clans for aligning with the Forsworn; they did more for us during the war."

Spes stepped forward, his eyes filled with anger. "You think we wanted to let a majority of your people to die! You have no FUCKING idea how much pressure our forces were under. We tried to protect the other races! While at the same time protecting our own!"

Luna growled lightly. It almost seemed as though the two were about to fight, until Spyro stepped in front of the two.

"Look!" Spyro yelled. "We don't have time for this!" He looked at each of them. "I understand that there are tensions between the wolves and the dragons, but we can't be fighting each other! I know little about politics…but this isn't necessary! We're all allies here! The real enemy is The Forsworn!"

Luna stared at the Purple dragon, and nodded. "You're right…" She said. She looked at Spes. "I don't hate The Empire, but I'm not the only one in my clan who think the Dragons abandoned us. The only reason we haven't joined the Forsworn, is because our clan was the first to realize who Empress Emera was. But no matter how much we feel resentment, we will not join the Forsworn."

Spes nodded. "We understand your people's plight. That's why we're trying our best to regain your trust and help you recover."

Luna nodded and looked to the others. "Forgive me for getting off subject…but we should get to work. From my observations, the meeting will take place in a half an hour…so we need to move."

…

The Forsworn robes were pure black with emerald green markings. Each had a hood which easily shadowed the face of the wearer once pulled up. On the back of the robe was an insignia of a silver dragon, which was in a circular formation. Luna's robes were of similar design, but were altered for a bipedal race to wear.

The dragons and the wolf walked easily in their disguises as they trudged through the high snow. They eventually made their way through the woods, which like Luna had said to the others, was an easy place to be ambushed. As they made their way through the woods, Spyro heard movement in the trees, he knew the Wolves were watching, but he and the others ignored them and acted calm.

Luna guided the group through the woods until they reached a cave entrance. Luna looked to the others, nodding at them, a silent signal that this is one of the entrances to where the meeting would be held. Seconds later, the group made their way into the dark cave. As they walked through the cave, it grew darker, but the passage was lit with several torches. As the group walked through the tunnels for three minutes, they eventually found a huge set of metal doors, which had the same dragon insignia on the back of their robes engraved on them.

In front of the door, were two masked guards, they were feline like. Judging on the fur of their tails, they were similar to the cheetah clans, except they were probly snow leopards.

The two guards held either a spear or greatsword…made of soul gems?

The two leopards held their weapons up at the group. Luna stepped forward.

One leopard growled lightly at the wolf, who growled in return. Obviously the cheetahs and the wolves had a natural rivalry.

"What is the song of the true god?" One of the Cheetah's said.

Luna paused, and then said. "The song of death…absolute silence."

The two cheetahs nodded, and slammed their weapons into the ground.

"Enter…brothers…" The two said, as the doors opened.

Slowly, Luna looks at the others and nods forward. Slowly, the group walked forward into an open chamber.

...

The group of six walked past the two snow leopards and into the fort without much trouble. They made sure to keep their heads down so no one would recognize them and so their hoods would cover their faces. The last thing anyone in the group wanted to do was draw attention to themselves.

There were multiple races wandering around the fort, each heading for a particular area. The Forsworn consisted of wolves, cheetahs, snow leopards, a few moles, and dragons. They were each dressed in black robes and all, but the dragons were armed with at least one weapon.

Spyro couldn't help, but let his eyes wander around the fort and take in the sights. He noticed that some of the Forsworn were speaking languages that were unfamiliar to him and many of them had different accents. He knew that there were many cultures out there in the world, but he had no idea how vast they were until now. He just wished they weren't in danger right now so he could try to learn more about the various languages and cultures he was seeing and hearing.

"Don't let your eyes wander too much." Spes whispered to the purple dragon.

Spyro nodded and lowered his head again. The group wandered around the fort until they made it to the courtyard, where the rest of the Forsworn were gathering. Everyone looked up at the balcony above them to see Persephone and Oculos himself looking down at them.

'What is wrong with that guy's eyes?' Spyro asked in his head as he looked at Oculos' unnatural looking eyes.

"Greetings to you all, my fellow Forsworn. We have been waiting in the dark ever since Malefor started his false war and I say we finally take action against the Empire! They think that we aren't a threat to them, but this will prove to be their undoing. We will hide right under their noses and wait until the right moment before we let their blood stain their doorsteps! We will find the Key in time and then we shall bring forth the death of the Goddess herself!" the dark dragoness told her subordinates cheered for her.

As she spoke, Spes' keen eyes noticed that a few wolf archers were notching their bows and seemed to be at the ready. He nudged Mentem's shoulder and opened his mouth to speak.

"I know." the fear dragon mumbled and the ex-soldier shut his mouth.

"Now then, I must inform the intruders here that we do not appreciate people steeling our robes and pretending to be one of my Children! Reveal yourselves and MAYBE I'll spare you!" Persephone continued and her subordinates looked at one another in confusion.

"I really wish I brought my smoke bombs so we could get out of here." Mentem commented quietly and Tula nodded.

"There are the intruders!" one of the Forsworn yelled as he pointed at the fear dragon.

"Good going, stealth man." Spes grumbled as everyone in the fort stepped away from the group of six.

"Remove your hoods! I want to see just who you are!" Persephone ordered harshly.

The group looked at each other before they looked up at the balcony again and lowered their hoods. The dark dragoness snarled when she spotted Spyro and she signaled for the archers to launch their arrows.

"WAIT!" Oculos shouted loudly and the archers held their fire.

"What's the meaning of this? Explain yourself." Persephone ordered as she turned to face the dragon beside her.

"Let me speak to them. Perhaps I can convince them to abandon the Empire and join our cause." The death dragon requested almost pleadingly.

The dragoness thought this over and rubbed her chin in thought with her paw. About a minute passed by that seemed like it was an eternity until she replied.

"You have ten minutes." she stated.

Oculos nodded before he jumped off the balcony. He commented to glide to the ground and landed in front of the group of six, specifically Spyro. The death dragon eyed them all carefully, as if studying them. His eyes eventually locked onto Spyro, making the younger dragon feel very uncomfortable.

"So, you're the famous purple dragon I've heard so much about. I must say, I'm rather impressed by what you have accomplished. Same with Cynder." Oculos started and he shot a quick glance at the black dragoness before looking back at Spyro.

"Um… thanks?" the purple dragon replied and it sounded like a question.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Oculos… the Dragon of Death." the gray scaled dragon introduced with a small nod, making everyone, but Spyro take an involuntary step back.

"Dragon of Death? I've heard of you. You used to be a general in Lumimyrsky." Mentem recalled uneasily.

"Yes, yes, I'm the youngest soldier to ever become a general in that ice ball of a city. This isn't about me though, it's about you." Oculos replied as he took a step closer to them. "Unlike what the Guardians may tell you, the Forsworn are not evil. We're trying to change this world for the better. Just stop your struggle and join us… or at the very least, surrender so we can take care of you until this war blows over." he told them all, but he was looking directly at Spyro.

"My friends and I will never join you." the purple dragon said quickly with a look of determination.

"Would you just listen to me? I'm actually trying to help you." the death dragon growled in frustration. "Do you even know about your past, Spyro?" he asked calmly all of a sudden.

"My past?" the purple dragon asked nervously, not sure where he was going with this.

"Yes, your past. Don't you even know who your mother is?" the death dragon asked and the younger dragon shook his head, no. "Your mother is…"

Before he could finish; Persephone poofed between them in a cloud of shadows. She looked up with a dark grin on her muzzle.

"Times up." she said in a sing-song tone of voice and she flexed her claws in anticipation.

Oculos was horrified that he couldn't get them to surrender in time and he looked at the group with an apologetic expression.

"The time has come… for you to die!" Persephone shouted with an evil grin and the group of six adopted combat stances.

...

Persephone slowly stood to her hind legs, releasing an ear piercing roar, Spyro and the others covered their ears as the roar was so strong that it was causing the walls and ground to crack around them. Suddenly, black and light purple flames began to surround Persephone. Suddenly, a wave of shadow flames flew forth, the force of the Shadow Flame Fury caused everyone but Spyro to fly backwards across the courtyard.

Spyro slowly stood to his feet. Persephone slowly got onto all four of her legs and smirked sadistically.

Spyro dashed forward and engulfed himself in flames, and used the Comet Dash. Persephone merely swatted her tail blade Spyro, causing Spyro to exit the technique and fall to the ground, but quickly rebound and blew electricity at Persephone. Persephone, in fluid movement, avoided the electric stream of Spyro's breath and tackled the Purple Dragon, grabbed him be his throat, and thrust him to the ground creating a crack into the ground of the courtyard.

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled, killing her opponent, a Forsworn Snow Leopard, using her poison tail technique. She lunged forward, only to be kicked back by an invisible force.

The Dragoness looked up to see strange waves of clear energy appear in a circle around Persephone and Spyro.

Luna, who had just shot a Mole in the head with her crossbow, noticed the field of energy.

"Looks like Persephone doesn't want any intruders…" Luna muttered.

Persephone continued to smash Spyro into the ground, eventually causing the ground underneath them to fall apart on the last hit, which caused Spyro to be knocked unconscious. Persephone flapped her wings and hovered in the air looking down at the hole in the ground. Underneath the hole was a pit of freezing water.

"An Ice dragon would enjoy those waters!" Persephone laughed at the unconscious body of the Purple dragon. "But you're not an Ice dragon! Not even a purple dragon can survive freezing temperatures!"

Persephone then threw Spyro into the ice cold water…leaving him to drift further into the depths.

_"Looks like he'll be sleeping with the fish now!" _Persephone thought to herself comically.

…

Spyro felt his entire body grow cold…his lungs burned…Spyro's eyes opened as he drifted to the bottom of the body of water. Spyro clutched at his throat. The purple dragon attempted to flap his wings, only for the cold to sap his strength.

_'No!' _Spyro thought desperately. _'I…Can't die! Not now!'_

Slowly, the cold began to overtake him. Spyro felt his eyes slowly begin to close. But as his eyes closed to just slits, he felt a warm feeling enter his body. As he continued to drift, he swore he could have heard something…singing?

Funny…it sounded familiar. It had no words, more of a hum…from a woman. It sounded familiar back when he discovered his elements back when he fought the corrupted Cynder and her apes…

Suddenly, his lungs stopped burning…and felt as though he could…breath? Spyro clutched his throat, and felt something on his neck…they almost felt like…Gills?

Suddenly, he felt the familiar feeling of Elemental Mana start to build up inside him. Almost like when he built up a fury…but this feeling…felt different. Before, each fury he unleashed had a different sensation depending on the element he used…this feeling…he could feel all of the water around him, their current.

Slowly, Spyro took in a deep "Breath" and opened his eyes. He knew what to do.

…

Persephone slowly landed to the edge of the hole. She smirked. But…that smirk soon turned into a scowl. Her crimson eyes flashed briefly.

_'What…is this…Water Mana? The only Water dragon here is that brat of the Water Guardian…unless…no!'_

Suddenly, a whirlpool began to form in the water bellow. Suddenly, the whirlpool became a water spout.

The water spout began to rise up and burst through the hole, knocking Persephone backwards and destroying a section of the Courtyard grounds. Multiple Forsworn were killed in the blast of water, which had immediately turned from ice cold, to scolding hot.

Cynder, Tula, Mentem and Spes flew upwards. Luna skillfully evaded the blast using her skills in Parkour.

Tula watched in amazement at the Water spout that formed.

"That is one POWERFUL water fury!" Tula said excitedly.

Cynder looked at Tula. "You mean…it was?"

Tula nodded and then finished. "Spyro!"

Persephone watched as Spyro hovered in the air, water still spinning around him. She growled and blew out a stream of poison breath at him. Only for a water tendril rise up, absorb the poison, and launch at the Dragoness. The dragoness flew towards the fortress roof, trying desperately to avoid the tendril of scolding hot water. The Dragoness covered herself in shadows and briefly vanished but then reappeared behind the Purple Dragon, and blew Shadow fire balls…only for them to vanish once they hit the protective water shell around Spyro. Spyro turned his head, his eyes focused on Persephone…suddenly, his wings began to fold in towards his body, the water around him began to stop spinning…seconds later…an explosion of scolding hot water flew forward in all directions. The force of the fury was so strong, that it caused a majority of the fortress to collapse, even if the fury was made of water.

Tula quickly spun around the entire, breathing water, and then hovered in between all of them, and raised her arms, causing the water to form a protective shell around the group.

After several seconds…the water evaporated into steam.

When the steam cleared, nearly half of the fortress had been destroyed.

Spyro hovered in the air briefly, before his eyes slowly closed, and he began to fell to the ground. Cynder quickly dived down to Spyro, and caught him. As Cynder flew up to the rest of the group, she did not see either Oculos or Persephone among the scorched bodies. She knew they would've survived this…it seemed too easy.

Mentem flew around the area, looking for Luna. Calling out for her…but didn't hear a response. He wasn't able to find her body, giving him hope his partner had survived. Forsworn Dragons began to approach from the distance; it was obvious that they had caused a scene…Mentem and Cynder quickly rejoined the group.

The group quickly flew away from the destruction, knowing that their mission was accomplished.

As they flew, Tula asked Cynder. "Spyro never trained in the element of water before?"

"Right…" Cynder said. "That's why he couldn't control the fury."

"But that was to powerful for a beginner…" Tula said.

Cynder looked at the unconscious body of her lover in her grasp. "It's because he's a purple Dragon…he has a high Mana reserve."

"Looks like my dad will have to train him when we get back." Tula said, looking ahead of the group. "Well explain to the Guardians once we get back."

As they flew, Cynder noticed Mentem look uneasy.

"She'll be fine," Cynder said.

"I know she will." Mentem said but looked ahead. "I just hope she can hold out on her own until we get back."

….

Persephone sat on her throne. Staring into blank space in the throne room of one of the Forsworn's fortresses in Dante's freezer. The room was dimly lit with several torches and had several banners, each showing the elements of Fear and Poison on them. Oculos stood beside her, knowing not to disturb her unless spoken to.

Suddenly, the main door opened and in came three figures…two were dragons of the Forsworn, the other was a bound and masked wolf prisoner. Persephone stood from her throne, and stepped forward to the prisoner in the dragons' grasp.

"Now…" Persephone said quietly. "Why am I not surprised?"

Slowly, she reached for the mask, and pulled it off.

She smirked when she saw the prisoner's defiant face. Luna growled at the Dragoness.

Oculos stared at the snow wolf with emotionless eyes.

"This is Luna…" Oculos said. "One of our 'recruits'…or so we thought."

Persephone glared into the wolf's eyes. She saw no fear in the wolf's eyes.

"Do what you want," Luna growled. "But I will not betray my allies."

Persephone merely smirked. "Oh, I have no intentions on making you betray them…" Slowly, she placed the claw of her index finger underneath the wolf's chin. She chuckled. "No, I have better plans for you."

**A/N: Mentem belongs to Native Avenger **

**while Luna is one of my OC's. **


	5. Chapter 4: Political tensions

**Chapter 4: Political Tensions part 1  
**

**A/N: To comment on Spyro's Water fury in the last chapter. The reason it seemed to over powered was due to Spyro not having full control over the element of water or had the proper training. It was giant due to the Purple Dragon naturally having more powerful mana than the other Dragons. Don't worry, Spyro's fury's wont always be that over powered. **

**Anyways, onto the chapter.  
**

_There it was again…the humming. The woman's voice could be heard over the sound of distant waves._

_Spyro's eyes slowly opened. He saw that he laid on white sandy beach with ink colored water splashing up against the shores. Spyro slowly stood to his feet, and shook his head lightly. He looked out at the beach, and walked up to the shore edge. In the distance, a crescent shape moon could be seen._

_Spyro was able to take a look at the island…which was nothing more than a platform of sand. He looked around at the distance…and saw an island in the distance…which seemed to be miles away, yet he knew that was where the singing was coming from. Slowly, he stepped into the water until it was up to his ankles. _

_Spyro closed his eyes and smiled, the tune made him feel at peace. He knew this place was a dream of sorts, but like the Chroniclers dream worlds, meaning what happened here was real._

_"Peaceful, is it not?" Spyro heard a voice from behind him. _

_He turned around, and in surprise a robed Dragoness walk up from behind him. The robe was pure silver in color and had an elemental symbol, representing "Sun" on the back of it._

_Spyro felt more curiosity than the need to fight. Slowly, Spyro turned to the island in the distance._

_"Yeah…it's beautiful." Spyro said. _

_The dragoness nodded. She pointed at the island in the distance. "There…is the Goddess' home."_

_Spyro looked up at the Dragoness. _

_"You mean Spectra? Lives there? On that island?" Spyro asked. The Dragoness nodded._

_"There she sleeps, there she carries the fate of the world on her shoulders." The Dragoness replied. She looked at Spyro, who seemed to have a look of pity. "You feel pity for her? Don't you?"_

_Spyro nodded. "I don't know why…I don't know the entire mythology. But just what you said…I feel sorry for her. As if I…have a connection to her."_

_The Dragoness nodded. "Yes, you do. Stronger than others do."_

_Spyro looked at the Dragoness, confused. "How so?"_

_"You have a connection to her, through blood." _

_"That doesn't make sense." Spyro said. _

_"You're wrong." The Dragoness said, she looked at him. "It does make sense."_

_Spyro thought for a moment. That's when it began to seemingly click. He had a connection to the Goddess through blood._

_"Are you saying…" Spyro began. "I'm…related to her?"_

_The Dragoness nodded. "Yes…she is your Grandmother after all."_

_"How…"_

_"Legend says," The Dragoness began. "That there were two types of Purple Dragons. The ones who were born with too much discord in them…and those born of the first dragons." She paused, but continued. "Malefor was one of Discord," She said. "You, Spyro, are a child of a First Dragon, whom are one of the many children of the Goddess." _

_"I…don't understand." Spyro said. "How could I…be the Grandchild of Spectra? How is that…possible?"_

_"You hear her tune," The Dragoness said. "The tune that is sung to the first dragons during their birth." _

_Spyro looked at his feet…in shock…he…was the grandchild of Spectra? It sounded crazy…but…he knew it was true. He always felt different, a Purple Dragon yes, but he felt different beyond the idea of being a normal dragon…but he wondered…who was his mother? Oculos was about to answer him…but Persephone interrupted. _

_Spyro looked up at the Dragoness._

_"Who is my mother?" He asked. He could have sworn he saw a smile appear on the hooded dragoness' lips._

_She pointed to the island in the distance. "She is waiting for you there young one." She said. "The farther you look for the truth in the physical world, the closest you reach that island. Eventually, you will meet her."_

_Spyro looked at the island in the distance._

_"My mom…" Spyro said to himself. "Is over there…"_

_He looked at the Dragoness._

_She motioned him to the water. "Go…she will wait for you."_

_Spyro nodded…and dove into the water without thinking._

_Seconds later, he woke up._

_…_

"Sp…Spyr...Spyro!" Spyro's vision slowly came into focus…and he saw Cynder next to him. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank the Goddess…"

Spyro smiled tiredly. He lay in a bed with a blanket over him. From what he knew about his surroundings, he was inside Warfang's infirmary, in the temple.

"Hey…Cyn…" Spyro said tiredly. Cynder sighed briefly, and smiled. She then kissed him.

"Don't you DARE! Scare me like that again!" Cynder said, trying to sound mad, but was just too happy to see her lover awake.

"No promises…" Spyro joked. Cynder smiled. Spyro was silent briefly…and then looked at his girlfriend. "Cynder…I have to tell you something."

Cynder listened as he explained about what he had learned. Cynder listened with an expressionless face, but eventually nodded.

"My teachers, back when I was corrupted by Malefor, told me about the same story you were told. That's why Malefor feared you, though he wouldn't admit it." Cynder said. "You're The Goddess' only grandchild in mortal form."

"It sounds too farfetched to me…" Spyro said to Cynder. He looked up at her. "But right now…it's the only story I have that is able to tell me who my family is. Now…I want to know who my mother is."

Cynder nodded and smiled. "Don't worry; I'll help you find out."

Spyro smiled.

"But that is not our main concern at the moment," A voice came from the Infirmary entrance. The two dragons turned t heir heads to see Typhoon walk inside the infirmary, politely asking two of the mole doctors to leave. When the doors were shut, Typhoon walked up to Spyro and Cynder.

"I'm glad you are awake." Typhoon said. "Tula told me about what happened. She and the others will be glad to know you're awake."

Spyro nodded.

"She also told me about your display in your use of water." Typhoon said calmly.

Spyro nodded. "I remember…very little."

Typhoon nodded. "When you've recovered, meet me in the training room. I will help you train in using your power over water." Typhoon paused. "It seems that the grandson of Spectra is finally going to reach his full potential."

"You…know?" Spyro asked.

Typhoon nodded. "We all know that you are the grandchild of Spectra, after you defeated Malefor and saved the world…we knew you her grandchild." He said. "But just because you are her grandson, you should not let it go to your head, nor should you tell any of your friends outside of this room." Typhoon said. "Only when the time is right, will it be time to reveal your origins to the world."

Spyro and Cynder nodded.

Spyro paused. "Do you know who my parents were?" He asked.

Typhoon nodded slowly. "No…but Ignitus did, but he never shared the information with my father, my predecessor. It was meant to protect you…"

Spyro nodded. "Thanks anyways…" He said, slightly disappointed.

Typhoon nodded. Slowly, he turned around to the door and spoke. "Meet me in the dojo in a few hours, then…we will make you a Water Dragon, one of us."

...

Mentem was walking down one of the halls in the temple with a monotone expression under his tricorn hat. He was still wearing his white cloak when he was in Dante's Freezer and his hat was tipped over the upper half of his face.

The fear dragon walked to the council room door and politely knocked. After a few moment of waiting, he heard a male voice speak on the other end of the door.

"Enter!" the voice called.

The fear dragon opened the door and walked inside to see both Terrador and Cecil standing side by side. They turned to face him as he walked up to them.

"Hello, Mentem. What news do you have for us?" the Earth Guardian asked expectantly.

"The Forsworn are mobilizing and are planning on taking down the Empire from within our ranks somehow." the fear dragon informed. "Those bastards also captured Luna." he added regrettably.

"Captured? By the Goddess. That's the last thing we need right now." Terrador commented with a heavy sigh.

"Thank you for informing us, Mentem." Cecil said with a slight nod after he turned to look in the hat wearing dragon's general direction.

"You're welcome. If you don't mind, I'd like to bring something to attention." Mentem stated with a monotone voice.

"What is it that you would like to say?" the blind dragon questioned curiously.

"I have been helping the Empire for a long time now. Not only myself, but the poison and other fear dragons as well. I was wondering… when will we get our place on the council?" the fear dragon asked with a raised eyebrow, making the Earth Guardian sigh.

"Mentem, you know that we can't just let the poison and fear dragons into the council. Everyone in the council needs to vote for it in order to make it happen." Terrador explained with an apologetic expression.

"It is true… I believe that your kind and the poison dragons should be on the council… but everyone should agree with it first." Cecil added with a nod.

The tricorn hat wearing dragon just got angry from their words and it was obvious by his heavy frown.

"This is just because the poison and fear elements were created by Malefor, wasn't it?" he said more as a statement than a question.

"That is part of it." Terrador admitted quietly.

"Unbelievable. We fought tooth and nail for the Empire and this is how we're repayed?" Menem asked, baring his teeth this time. "Let me tell you something. Your politics are bullshit and you're damned Goddess is a lie! You treat us like shit and your fucking deity calls us monsters! We're right next to the gargoyles in your eyes!" he screamed furiously, shocking both Terrador and Cecil greatly.

"Mentem… that is not…" the Earth Guardian started.

"FUCK YOU! You're damned religion is clouding your minds! How many wars started because of this false faith!?" the fear dragon demanded. "If you hate us poison and fear dragons so much, why don't you just try to kill us for your Goddess." he hissed.

"We would never do that. The Goddess is real and she wants peace and happiness for all creatures." Cecil stated sternly.

"I can tell." Mentem said sarcastically with a look of disgust. "And your politics are just as bad. You base everything you do and every decision on your religion." he snorted.

"That's not true, Mentem. We have votes." Terrador said quickly with a frustrated growl.

"Your form of voting doesn't work! You only count the votes of whoever's on the council; just like fascists! You Guardians and council members live like kings while you tax the shit out of everyone and give them no voice in whatever's going on! And when anyone speaks out against you, you lock them away with the very fucking money that you fucking took away from them!" Mentem accused furiously.

"If we chose to have everyone vote, then nothing would get done! We can't just give everyone that kind of responsibility when they can't handle it!" the Earth Guardian yelled back. "And you will do as you're told and serve the Empire!" he added sternly and the blind dragon nodded in agreement.

"I don't give a fuck about the Empire! Just give me the freedom I deserve!" Mentem screamed at them before he stormed out and slammed the door shut behind him before Cecil or Terrador could respond.

"Oh Ancestors…" Terrador groaned as he sat down in his seat and rubbed his pounding head.

"Just give him time… he'll come around and apologize to us." the blind dragon comforted.

"No he won't. Mentem is like the dragons you're used to. He's practically an anarchist with the way he's acting. Most kids these days are rebellious like he is." The Earth Guardian replied with a heavy. "Mentem, Electra, Spes, and countless others don't believe than the Goddess even exists anymore. I saw a bunch of kids, Mentem including, who burned a painting of Spectra right in front of the temple." he added as he looked down.

Cecil was quite shocked with this revelation. He didn't know that so many people believed this and that their opinions were this strong. He couldn't fathom this, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to change their minds.

"What are we supposed to do?" Terrador asked desperately, wanting everyone to believe that the Goddess exists.

"I don't know… I just don't know." the blind dragon answered honestly.

...

_I've been here in this timeless world for so long. _

_I have stood guard while The Goddess sleeps in her eternal slumber._

_While everyone ages, I remain the same._

_My world served as an example to what would happen if **it** were to ever be free to roam. Some of the people of my world wanted **it** free. Some wish to release **it** that it is the answer to ever lasting peace…how wrong they were._

_The Goddess sleeps to keep **it **contained. In small amounts it is harmless…but in large amounts…_

**_It_**_ is enough to consume an entire world._

_I stand guard to protect the Goddess, the one who saved me from that terrible fate my world suffered. _

_But not everyone…believes the Goddess' sacrifice was enough._

_…_

The woman back flipped while avoiding the slash of a giant sword which caused the ground to explode. The woman slid backwards briefly while holding up her sword in her left hand, which reflected a spectrum of colors, and her shield on her right arm. Her armor was a well polished silver color which was enough to radiate a spectrum of different colors if light were to reflect on the armor. The woman looked up at her opponent and briefly pushed a strand of her brunette hair out of her line of sight.

Her opponent; a twenty three year old man with long black hair. He wielded a six foot jagged great sword and held it in a back handed grip and lifted it effortlessly. His armor was colored obsidian black with violet markings. On the chest of his armor had an engraving of a black dragon.

The two circled each other on top of a temple like structure.

"Tell me," The man spoke. "Do you ever grow tired of this Christina?"

Christina said nothing, her grip on her sword remaining the same. She lunged forward in speeds that were unattainable for humans. She lashed out with her blade, only for her blow to be blocked by her opponent's giant blade. A shower of sparks flew through the air as Christina and her opponent's blades clashed.

Eventually, the two became locked in a glare. Christina looked her opponent dead in the eyes. His brown eyes completely calm, until they flashed crimson. Christina tensed and jumped backwards as black flames surrounded the man.

Suddenly, the man's body became engulfed in the flames. He merely smirked as he stabbed his blade into the ground.

Seconds later, the flames had completely engulfed the man, and his body changed.

What took the man's place seconds later was a giant two legged mechanical dragon which stood at twenty feet. It's armor was colored black and violet. It's eyes glowed a haunting crimson glow, similar to the man's eyes.

"That's not good…" Christina muttered.

The mechanical dragon let out a roar and flew up into the air. From it's mouth, it shot a beam of black and purple flames. Christina ran backwards towards the ledge of the temple, and jumped off the side, falling towards the ground hundreds of feet below, until she held her hands out, and a glowing sphere of white and gold flames appeared in her hands.

"Alpha!" She yelled. Suddenly, the sphere flew downwards to the ground, and seconds later, the sphere exploded into a brilliant light.

As Christina became engulfed in the light, a dragon flew upwards and caught her. The dragon's scales were colored gold and white. The dragon flew upwards towards the mechanical dragon, and tackled it.

Christina sat on the dragon's back, her shield and sword held up. After a brief struggle in the air, the mechanical dragon retreated and flew towards the ink colored ocean which surrounded the island.

"Let's go!" Christina called out.

The dragon nodded his head.

As the Christina and her dragon flew after their mechanical enemy. Her dragon spoke to her mentally.

_"Why would he attack mother's temple directly?" _The Dragon's male voice said to Christina.

"I don't know old friend…" Christina said her eyes glued on their enemy as he flew farther away from them. Eventually…their enemy vanished in a cloud of smoke…

The dragon landed on the top of a rocky cliff which overlooked the ocean.

The dragon growled. _"He got away…"_

Christina rubbed her companion's neck. "Let's get back…we're too far away from the Temple." Christina said calmly. But she saw her companion survey the ocean. "Alpha." Christina said his name calmly.

Alpha looked up at his rider.

_"Forgive me…Christina." _

"Don't worry, one day. The game of cat and mouse will end." Christina said before alpha turned around, and the two flew back towards the temple.

….

Typhoon watched as Spyro blew water at the training dummies. The concentration of the water was precise, making it so the water could cut the dummies in half. Typhoon went over the basics with Spyro, making sure he knew how to control the temperature of the water. Turning it from freezing cold, to scolding hot.

Typhoon noticed Mentem walk into the dojo during the secondary stages of Spyro's water training, which involved shooting concentrated blasts of water at multiple dummies. Typhoon noticed the anger on Mentem's expression as he went to sit with Cynder and Tula. The water dragon noticed how the fear dragon seemed to almost glare at him as he instructed the purple dragon.

Finally, it came to the water fury.

Spyro stood in the center of the training room, staring at Typhoon. Waiting for his instructions.

"Now, Spyro." Typhoon began. "Some say the power of water is a weak element…however, you demonstrated that it is just as lethal as any other element back in Dante's freezer."

"For the Water Dragons who cannot control the tides…they are swept away with them. But for those who can control them. Water will be their greatest ally. Now prepare to unleash, and control, the wild waves of the ocean. Make them fight for you." Typhoon said, before snapping his talon.

Suddenly, multiple dummies materialized, ranging from small to large. Spyro looked around him. Closed his eyes and began to hover in the air. As the dummies surrounded him and tried to beat him. Water began to swirl around him. Spyro's eyes opened and with one powerful breath and flap of his wings, an explosion of water mana flew in every direction. Knocking the dummies off their feet and into the walls.

When the water fury subsided, a water cloak appeared around Spyro. Typhoon smiled.

He walked up to the purple dragon. "Well done…" Typhoon said. "Ignitus was right about you…you are a fast learner."

Spyro nodded while smiling lightly.

The others approached. Cynder hugged him and congratulated. Tula grinned happily and began to talk happily, saying how he was impressive and how she couldn't wait to train with him some more. Which eventually Typhoon had to calm his young daughter.

Typhoon glanced at Mentem and then looked at Spyro. "I have to meet with the other Guardians to discuss the next course of action against the Forsworn…and some other matters…" He muttered the last part, looking at Mentem with a cold expression, which Mentem returned.

The Water guardian then left the training room. Spyro and Cynder looked at Mentem.

"Uhh…" Spyro began. "I'm assuming the two of you don't get along very well."

Mentem looked away briefly. "We get along…" Mentem said. "Just not as well now that the war is over."

Tula sat back on her haunches. "The guardians made you angry again? Didn't they? It's about the Fear dragons and Poison dragons not having a position on the council? Isn't it?"

Mentem said nothing. Tula sighed.

Spyro and Cynder looked at Tula. Tula noticed their confused glances.

Tula began to explain. "Back when the Empire was formed by Empress Emera, the original Guardian council was formed of the original nine elements. The purpose of the council was meant to allow the Empress to hear the thoughts and concerns of the different dragon races and the other races. However, when Malefor experimented with the elements, he created the…"

"Fear and Poison elements." Cynder interrupted. Tula nodded.

"Yeah…during the war, the two new Dragon breeds fought for the Empire. But due to their elements created by Malefor, there was resentment towards them by the other Dragons. The Guardians are conflicted whether to give the Poison and Fear dragons a place on the council or not…since on one hand they fought and sacrificed themselves for the Empire…but their elements weren't the original nine elements the Goddess created…"

Mentem interrupted. "Which the Guardians are using as an excuse to keep us off the council…"

Tula looked at Mentem with a serious stare. "Mentem…you know Guardians Terrador, Rikku and Shade wants the Fear and Poison dragons to have a place on the council. And I heard Lord Cecil wants it to."

Mentem rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but they will not let us on the council until the others agree. Cyril, Skyress and your father think we shouldn't due to our elements being 'created' by Malefor and not being created by the 'goddess'…who proble doesn't even exist."

Spyro felt slight uncomforting feeling grow inside him at hearing what Mentem said…He knew his connection to Spectra…but he didn't know whether to defend that she is in fact a Goddess…but he knew that it wasn't worth an argument. It wasn't his place to make people believe in something.

Tula shifted uncomfortably. "Mentem…" she muttered. But shook her head. She looked at Spyro and Cynder. "I've gotta go…I've got to check up on Blaze. See you tomorrow."

Tula soon left the Temple dojo. Cynder looked up at Mentem.

"What makes you think there isn't a Goddess?" Cynder asked.

"If there was one…" Mentem began. "Why would she let that war happen? Why let so many people die? If she truly cares about the life and happiness of the people…why sit back and watch them die?"

Cynder shook her head. "Look…Mentem…You know I served Malefor unquestionably before…I won't force you to believe that Spectra is real or not. But Malefor feared Spectra…and he seemed to know more about what was going on than I did."

"Well maybe, by some slim chance, Spectra is 'real'." Mentem countered. "She abandoned us, no doubt about it. If she really wanted to protect us from Malefor, she would have done something BEFORE hand!" Mentem looked away. "Look…it's been a long day…we just got back from that ice bowl, Luna's been captured and I've just had to listen to a bunch of political bullshit. I'm tired and angry…"

Cynder nodded. "Fine…I guess."

Mentem nodded and began to walk away.

Cynder sighed. She noticed her boyfriends expression…it was one of slight depression.

"Hey," Cynder said calmly. "Don't let it get to you…he doesn't know."

Spyro nodded. "I…" He began. "I wish I could stand up for her…but I don't want to be some kind enforcer…"

Cynder nodded. "Don't worry. We'll find some way to make this better."

Spyro nodded. Cynder placed on her paws on Spyro's shoulder. "Come on…it's getting late." She said. "Personally, I just want to lay in a nice soft bed…"

Spyro smiled lightly, and nodded. The two then left for their rooms to retire for the night.

…

The Guardians held a meeting that night. To inform Cecil about the ADDITIONAL details they had not informed him. He sat in his set; his index talon tapped the stone table lightly. His hazed eyes looking in the direction of Empress Emera's vacant throne.

"What Mentem told Terrador and I…is slightly disturbing." Cecil said, his voice was emotionless but the Guardians knew the young, but famed, prophet was disappointed. "Mentem said you made decisions based on 'religion'…back when I served Empress Emera. She made decisions that were not influenced by religion…they were based on her experiences." He paused. "Your grandparents and great grandparents understood her reasoning. Knowing she how she had witnessed the birth of the first civilization…and it's fall. Now…tell me…why has that changed?"

Cyril was the first to speak. "After the war, we all decided that the Empress' mother should be honored…After all; it was the Goddess who sent Spyro."

Cecil looked in the Ice Guardian's direction. "So…those who disrespect the Goddess' name should be punished?"

Rikku was the next to answer. "Spectra created the First Dragons, our ancestors, who in turn gave birth to the Dragons. Should we just let them slander HER name?"

Cecil shook his head. "You do not understand." Cecil said calmly. "You must consider multiple reasons why many of the citizens do not believe in the Goddess anymore…many things have happened during the war. It is only natural for them to feel reason to hate her. I do not like to hear her name insulted, after all, she gifted me with the ability to see the future…but we can't punish them by throwing them in cells!"

Cecil rubbed his temples. "The Forsworn have returned…repairs to the city are not finished…our allies are turning against each other. And now people are turning their backs on the Goddess…"

The Guardians were silent. Cecil looked up at the Guardians. "Until we find a solution, I want each of you to swear," Cecil began. "That decisions made in this room will not be governed through the religion of the Goddess. They must be made through clear thinking, not through blind faith. Making decisions that are affected through blind faith rather than clear thinking would insult The Goddess herself."

The Guardians each swore to the prophet that their decisions would not be made through blind faith. Slowly, Cecil stood up. He then left the Council hall…that was many of the issues he wanted to address…he wish he would've spoke about the issue of allowing the Poison and Fear dragons on to the council…but he knew it was late at night, and he would need his strength for the next day.

As the Prophet counted his steps to his quarters, which he did so that way he knew where he was going, he felt relieved when he reached his room. He opened the door to his room…and fell onto his bed. He felt the soft covers relax him as his eyes started to feel heavy. Slowly, his eyes closed…and drifted into the realm of sleep.

...

**Early next morning:**

In the next day in Warfang, there was a large gathering of teenagers and young adults in front of the Temple. Each of the dragons looked to be either angry or very determined. Some of them were yelling obscurities at the Temple and more specifically, the members of the council.

Among the angry mob of dragons were Mentem, Spes, and Electra. They were here, like the other dragons, to express their opinions about the government and the religion that the council members rely so heavily on.

"We're not slaves to a Goddess that doesn't exist!" a black scaled dragon amongst the group yelled and the others called out similar comments.

After a few moments of yelling, a few teenagers took out a painting of Spectra herself and held it up for the Guardians and Cecil to see. They nailed the painting to a nearby pole and one of the fire dragons blew a small spark on the bottom of the holy artwork. After a few moments, the paining of the Goddess herself began burning and the large group cheered in approval.

"This is what we think of your damned religion!" an ice dragoness called with a challenging grin.

As this all happened, Tula ran out of the temple and right up to Mentem, who turned to face her as soon as he spotted her.

"Mentem, what are you guys doing!?" the water dragoness demanded to know as she stomped her front left foot, showing how upset she was.

"We're protesting. We want the government to stop forcing religion down our throats." The hat wearing fear dragon explained calmly as if nothing was wrong.

"But you can't just burn a painting of the Goddess! That's just going too far." she explained to him, making him scoff.

"Too far? Is it 'too far' to voice your opinions and try to change things for the better?" Mentem answered with a question.

"You think by doing these things like this that it will solve anything? It will only make things worse." Tula reasoned with a desperate expression.

The fear dragon got angrier and angrier as the water dragoness talked, but he was able to control his emotions. He wanted to just ignore her, so he looked away. She didn't seem to appreciate this however and moved around so he would look at her.

"Leave me alone!" Mentem shouted and he lightly pushed her, but he was intending to

hurt her. He just wanted to put emphasis in his words, that's all.

Tula wasn't expecting the light push however and she stumbled back, right into the burning paining. The fear dragon's eyes widened in horror as her body connected with the flames and she screamed in pain as the tip of her tail lit on fire.

One of the protesters, a water dragon, rushed forward and used his water element to quickly douse the flames in cold water. She whimpered as she looked at her blackened scales and she looked up at Mentem with tear filled eyes.

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Tula." he apologized as he bent down to help her.

The water dragoness' eyes widened when he started to get closer and she ran back into the temple as fast as she could. The fear dragon sighed heavily and looked down in shame, but he and the other protesters flinched when they heard a furious roar.

All of the dragons in the group looked over at the temple to see Blaze at the entrance and he was panting heavily, obviously very angry. He stomped forward until he was right up at the hat wearing fear dragon's face.

"I'm gonna make you pay for hurting Tula, Mentem!" the fire dragon snarled as he adopted a combat stance.

**To Be continued...**


	6. Chapter 5: Blaze's Fury

**Chapter 5: Political Tensions Part 2/Blaze's fury**

Blaze's breathing began to increase at a rapid pace. His eyes blazed with hatred at the Fear dragon. By now the rioters began to step back, fully aware of what the young Fire Dragon was capable of when angry…especially the feelings he held for the young Water Dragoness who had just been hurt.

Electra stepped forward in between Mentem and Blaze, trying to calm her fellow classmate.

"Blaze! Don't lose control! We're sorry for what happened to Tula! But if you release your anger HERE you'll also hurt innocent bystanders!" Electra pleaded.

"FUCK OFF!" Blaze roared.

Suddenly, a shockwave of hot air flew forward, staggering everyone. Several of the rioters and bystanders quickly stepped back as they all saw fire began to radiate off of Blaze's red scales. Blaze's eyes began to glow a fiery orange. Mentem stood up and looked at Electra.

"Get back…" Mentem told Electra. Electra looked up at the fear dragon…and nodded reluctantly. Mentem stepped closer to Blaze. "Blaze…I'm sorry…I wasn't myself…"

"SHUT UP!" Blaze roared, charging forward at the fear dragon. Flames formed around the fire dragon's claws as Blaze slashed furiously at Mentem.

Mentem quickly ducked down and avoided the strikes. Mentem knew that he couldn't say anything to calm Blaze down…after all…he had hurt Blaze's love. Mentem couldn't block the strikes due to the flames he was releasing. From what he remembered from what Fire Guardian Pyra informed him about Blaze, was that Blaze grew tired as he got angrier…but Blaze was not growing tired the slightest. This showed his anger was to extreme.

Mentem rolled to the side, avoiding a powerful slash from Blaze's tail, which added with the heat, had caused the ground where Mentem stood to melt. Blaze spun around and lashed out with his horns. Which Mentem just narrowly evaded.

After a minute of evading and telling the others not to interfere aware that Blaze would kill anyone who interfered and got in between him and Mentem. Mentem felt himself start to grow tired. The heat was causing Mentem to grow tired…

But eventually…Blaze stopped striking out…and stood where he was, glaring at Mentem.

Smoke rolled out of Blaze's nostrils.

"I!" Blaze said. "AM! GOING! TO MURDER! YOU!"

Suddenly, the flames around Blaze began to thicken and a sphere of fire appeared around Blaze as he began to hover in the air.

Mentem's eyes widened.

"Fuck…" Mentem muttered as he turned to the others. "Get out of here!"

But it was too late. Blaze roared and prepared to flap his wings in one powerful thrust…until a purple streak flew through the air, and tackled Blaze.

The two figures fell onto the ground. Spyro quickly rolled to the side in front of Mentem and the rioters. Due to Spyro fully mastering the element of Fire, the Purple dragon was unharmed by the flames.

"Spyro…" Mentem said with a relief. Spyro turned his head to Mentem, his eyes filled with slight anger.

"Get everyone out of here…" Spyro said emotionlessly while looking back at Blaze, who began to yell and thrash as he stood up. "I've got this…"

Mentem nodded and turned to the others. Blaze's eyes shifted to Mentem and attempted to charge at him, only for Spyro to intercept Blaze, spinning in place and creating a whirlwind of ice, which would've felt as though it came out of the ice age, around him which knocked Blaze back. Ice chunks melted as Blaze roared and charged at Spyro.

…

Cecil stood on the balcony in the Temple…feeling the massive wave of Fire Mana erupt from the young Fire Dragon named Blaze.

Cecil used his ability to sense aura to "See" the fight. Spyro had interfered before Blaze could cause harm which was a relief to the blind dragon. The Guardians had quickly left the balcony to get the others to safety. All except Pyra, whom Cecil ordered to stay behind.

"Why is Blaze different?" Cecil asked.

Pyra was silent as she watched her student effortlessly strike her deceased Lover's praised student. Pyra closed her eyes.

"Blaze' fire mana…is highly unstable. While most Dragons have to focus on building up their fury…Blaze' mana only takes the form of a fury and fury fire cloak…he is unable to breath fire. But when his temper grows, his fury grows more powerful." Pyra said. "He and his parents lived in the ice regions of the world. To keep his temper under control. However…with the death of his mother, which he witnessed in front of his very eyes, he is unable to control his temper properly, let alone his emotions. Which is why in our training, I taunt him so he can have more restraint."

Cecil said nothing. He closed his eyes.

"In this case…he is a ticking time bomb." Cecil muttered. "And Spyro is making things worse…"

Pyra nodded.

Cecil looked up at Pyra. "Find Cynder, tell her to help find the younger students, get them to safety. Should Blaze release his fury…the force will cause severe destruction."

Pyra nodded. "What about Spyro…"

Cecil turned his attention to Spyro's aura…he sensed a change in his aura…it felt familiar. Instead of his purple aura…he saw a golden tint in the aura…Cecil smiled and said.

"The Goddess will work through her grandchild."

…..

"Blaze! Stop!" Spyro said before breathing an Ice bomb on Blaze, and then breathing a stream of ice cold water over him, causing steam to kick up.

"DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Blaze roared, charging through the steam towards Spyro.

Spyro side stepped the fire Dragon's furious strikes. Spyro darted forward, jumped into the air and began to "Roll" in the air, creating a shell of Earth around him knocking into Blaze. Blaze roared in irritation as he hit the ground.

Blaze's breathing began to increase. The flames grew in intensity.

Blaze glared in Spyro's direction. "You don't understand…THEY HURT TULA! ALL FOR WHAT!"

"This isn't going to solve anything!" Spyro roared. "If Cynder were hurt, yes I would want to hurt whoever hurt her…but you tried to kill them!"

"Retribution!" Blaze roared.

The Fire dragon charged forward, tackling Spyro as he was about to fly into the air. Blaze roared directly into Spyro's face. Suddenly, Blaze's fury began to grow in strength…Spyro cried as the flames began to burn him.

Spyro looked into Blaze's eyes. Seeing the anger mixed with sadness. He pitied the dragon…he refused to kill Blaze…but what else was there to do? If he didn't stop him, he would kill so many people. But if he killed Blaze…

_"Please…" _Spyro thought, his teeth clinching. _"Give me strength!" _

That's when he felt it…the heat lessened. Spyro looked at Blaze, and saw the flames around him start to disperse. Suddenly, Spyro saw a spectrum of colors around him start to form a sphere, similar to a fury. Spyro saw the fire in Blaze's eyes disperse...his eyes began to grow tired.

Spyro stood up, his wounds healing. Slowly, Blaze lowered to the ground, tiredly. The energy around Spyro entered Blaze, and slowly the fire dragon began to collapse to his knees, and fell to the ground…unconscious.

Spyro looked at the energy around him, which flew up into the air…and vanished into the morning sky.

"What…" Spyro began looking up at the sky, confused. He turned to his right, seeing the Guardians and the former rioters stepping closer.

Spyro turned to the Temple, seeing Cynder, Pyra and Cecil walking towards him.

Cecil approached Spyro, and looked in Spyro's direction.

"The Peace of the Goddess." Cecil said quietly to Spyro. "Is an ability inherited to those who have the blood of Spectra running through their veins…" Cecil smiled. "Your Grandmother worked through you."

Spyro looked at Blaze. "Is he?" Spyro asked.

"The Peace of The Goddess sapped him of his fury and mana…he will awaken in a few hours." Cecil said. He looked in the directions of the rioters and walked forward.

The rioters bowed their heads, realizing what could have happened.

Cecil looked in Mentem, Spes and Electra's direction.

"You may do what you will." Cecil said. "You believe what you wish. It is not my place, nor the Guardians, to tell you what to believe. Last night, I met with the Guardians of the Council, and we agreed that decisions on the council would not be blinded by blind faith after I learned of what has happened in both my and Empress Emera's absence, but decisions would made through a clear mind."

Cecil's voice hardened. "But…apparently…we are not the only ones who need to consider what has happened."

Slowly, the blind dragon raised his left paw and pointed his index talon up.

"Burning paintings of the Goddess and desecrating her statues is one thing. It does not matter to her…because she performs her tasks regardless…but hurting those in the process…is unforgivable." Cecil glared in Mentem's direction but then looked out in the direction of the others. "If someone is hurt EVER again because of your actions…then you will regret them dearly."

With that, Cecil walked towards the temple followed by the guardians. Pyra put Blaze on her back, and looked at Mentem, Electra and Spes, and walked away. Spyro and Cynder walked with the Guardians. The only one who stayed behind the group, was Typhoon. Who glared at Mentem.

Typhoon walked up to the three dragons and stood in front of Mentem, their faces dangerously close. Mentem looked at the stone ground.

"Lord Cecil, has ordered a meeting…ironically, he wants Electra and YOU," Typhoon said, saying the last part at Mentem coldly. "I suggest you two enter the Council room…"

Mentem nodded expressionlessly. Typhoon then walked away towards the temple.

….

Cecil sat in his chair. The rest of the guardians sat in their respected chairs. Spyro, Cynder, Mentem and Electra stood in the council room. Silence filled the room, until Terrador spoke.

"The apes and Atlawa are currently in disputes over certain pieces of land in the Tall Plains. The Apes who live on the land had colonized their before the war…" Terrador said. "However, the Atlawa and the Apes have recently been in conflict due to recent tensions over whether the Apes should leave…or stay. We believe the Forsworn will take advantage of this. As well we believe they are searching for something in the forests…"

Skyress, the Wind Dragoness who served as the Wind Guardian, said. "We want you to find out what the Forsworn are looking for, and help maintain peace between the Atlawa and Apes and protecting the Earth dragon homes in that region."

Typhoon looked at the group, and Mentem could've sworn he saw a grim hint of satisfaction on his father figure's face. "Blaze will also accompany you four."

Cecil looked at Typhoon, and shook his head lightly in disapproval. "Meeting adjourned."

Cecil turned to the group. His eyes stared at Electra and Mentem, his eyes still filled with slight anger over what had happened an hour before, but then his eyes calmed and looked to Spyro and Cynder.

"Spyro, Cynder. We have a gift for the two of you; something the Guardians agree should be yours after the sacrifice and bravery you showed when fighting Malefor." Cecil stood up, followed by Pyra, Cyril, Volteer and Terrador. Cecil then said. "Follow us."

The two heroes nodded, and followed the five dragons.

Mentem looked at Electra.

"I'll see you later…I'm going to check on Tula."

Electra nodded. The two dragons left the room.

...

Mentem had been wandering around the Warfang hospital for awhile now. He was trying to find Tula's room so he could apologize for accidentally causing the accident during the protest that nearly ended in disaster. He was told that she was staying in room 201 and he was counting the room numbers as he walked past them.

He felt his white cloak flap behind his legs while he walked at a fast pace. His head was tipped down so his black tricorn hat was covering most of his face, but high enough so he could see the room numbers.

The fear dragon eventually found room 201 and he stopped in front of it. Feeling a little nervous, he sighed heavily and knocked on the door three times.

"Enter!" he heard a male voice call from the other end.

Mentem cleared his throat so his voice wouldn't sound horse and he walked into the hospital room. His frown deepened and he felt a wave of dread however when he saw Tula sleeping in the bed and Typhoon was sitting next to her.

The Water Guardian turned towards the hat wearing dragon and glared at him. He stood up from his seat and walked right up to him.

"We need to speak in private." the water dragon spoke seriously and he lightly nudged him outside.

The fear dragon sighed as he dipped his head down and he followed the Guardian out into the hall and they walked into an empty hospital room. The water dragon shut the door behind them and motioned for the younger dragon to sit.

Mentem indeed sat down on the bed and the Water Guardian took a seat on the sitting pillow next to him. The fear dragon just knew that he was going to be scolded and looked down in shame.

"Mentem, you know that you're like a son to me, but I can't just forgive you for hurting Tula, my last surviving daughter. I know it was an accident, but I just can't forgive you right now." Typhoon scolded calmly with an emotionless expression.

"But…" the fear dragon started quietly.

"And not only that." the Water Guardian cut off. "After the council meeting the other night, I was actually considering allowing the fear and poison dragons on the council. But after what happened with Tula… I can't think of a reason to give them permission to join the council." he added harshly.

"But it's not their fault. Punish me, not them." Mentem reasoned with a shaky voice.

"You're just lucky that Tula's burns won't scar over, or I would've punished you!" Typhoon snapped angrily. "I kept you safe for years, taught you how to fight, and I've raised you and THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME!" he screamed the last part.

Mentem just kept his head down in shame and the water dragon scoffed. He heard his father figure walk towards the door, open it, and walk out without another word. He flinched when he heard the door slam shut and he rested his head on his front paws.

"I'm so sorry..." the fear dragon said quietly before he walked out of the hospital room.


	7. Chapter 6: Departure for Tall Plains

**Chapter 6: Departure for Tall Plains**

Spyro and Cynder followed Cecil, Terrador, Volteer, Cyril and Pyra through the temple's lower levels. The group was as of now walking down a flight of stairs, which lead into a dark corridor which was lit with several torches. Eventually the group made their way into a long corridor which came to a halt in front of a pair of metal doors which had a dragon symbol engraved on the front of the doors.

Cecil walked forward towards the door, and placed slowly held out his paw carefully, feeling for the door.

Cecil smiled lightly, and took a deep breath. Slowly his paw began to glow white and the door soon had glowing white lines crisscross over the door. Eventually the glowing stopped, and, the door began to mechanically open. Revealing a large open room that was lit with golden glowing crystals that were mounted on the walls.

Cecil looked at Spyro and Cynder and motioned them to follow him and the Guardians. Spyro and Cynder nodded, following the older dragons.

As the group walked into the room, Spyro and Cynder took time and looked around at the art work and design of the room.

"Welcome," Cecil said to the two. "To the Treasury of Spectra."

Spyro and Cynder looked in awe at how huge the room was. Near the walls of the room stood Dragon statues…made of pure crystal. The Dragon statues were not the same however, they were each unique and had a nameplate at the foot of the statues.

Spyro walked up to one statue and read one of the nameplates allowed.

"Janus…" Spyro read aloud to Cynder, who had walked over. "Eleventh born of Spectra…tenth oldest son of Spectra…infamous for his tricks and pranks on mortals but also famous for the joy he brings to his brothers, sisters and nieces and nephews."

Spyro and Cynder looked up at the statue and saw that Janus' appearance was slender and he had a goofy grin carved onto his face and his eyes filled with joy.

Cecil walked towards Spyro and Cynder. "These statues are of the First Dragons, Spectra's true children and Empress Emera's siblings." Cecil said before feeling the statue in front of him…and smiled.

"Ahh Lord Janus…" Cecil said happiness evident in his tone. "Empress Emera told me when she was young; her brother would always pull harmless pranks on her. Emera told me that their oldest brother, Alpha, would always have to break up their arguments…but the two loved each other as brothers and sisters should."

Cecil looked towards the center of the room, and motioned Spyro and Cynder to follow him.

The group walked down a few steps, and into the center of the room. Cecil took a deep breath and dragged his index claw across the floor's stone surface. Soon, the treasury began to rumble…a part of the floor in the center of the room parted ways, revealing a pedestal which had three objects on it. Two were mannequins which held Dragon armor Spyro and cinder had not seen before and in between the mannequins was a pedestal…holding a dull jewel.

Pyra stepped forward to the armor mannequins.

"These armor sets…are yours." Pyra said. Cecil walked up to the armor on the left, feeling it and looked at Spyro.

"This one is yours, Spyro." Cecil said.

Spyro looked up at the armor. It's color was gold with dark orange markings on the armor. The armor was a heavy set of armor which looked like it could protect the user from various attacks. The helmet covered the upper half of the wearer's face, while it left the lower half exposed.

"This armor was forged for the Purple dragons." Cecil said emotionlessly. "it is made of an ore we call "The ore of Spectra" which is so strong, that not even the world's toughest metal could harvest the ore. It was only thanks to the "Forge of Nova", named after Spectra's second oldest daughter, that the ore could be mined. Malefor was gifted the armor by Empress Emera, however, his pride was to great and viewed himself as a god so he turned the armor down…the armor itself is given to a Fully Realized Purple Dragon. Though you have not mastered all of the elements…it is only right that the armor goes to you, Spyro."

Cecil reached up to the chest guard of the armor, and tapped it. Suddenly, the armor glowed a bright gold light and vanished; only thing that was left of it was a bright gold amulet, which had a glowing spectral jewel, in Cecil's hand. Cecil handed the amulet to Cyril, who in turn gave the amulet to Spyro. Spyro took the amulet and stared at it.

"The armor can be summoned by touching the jewel; it recognizes your touch due to The Goddess being your Grand Mother." Cecil said.

Spyro slowly put the amulet on his neck and touched the jewel…and in a bright gold burst of light, the armor appeared on Spyro, fitting perfectly. Spyro smiled and bowed his head lightly.

Cecil nodded, and approached the next set of Armor. The armor was predominantly black with silver linings. The armor was a light set and had metal plates which protected vital points of the body such as pressure points. The helmet completely covered the upper half of the face, not including the horns and eyes.

"Cynder," Cecil said. Cynder looked up at Cecil and bowed her head. "This armor is forged from the same ore as Spyro's. The armor belonged to the Captain of The Original Paladin Corps, the hidden blade of the Empire. "Shadra the 'Dragoness of the Crescent Moon' was a fast dragoness…when on the battle field against the original Forsworn, she would vanish into the fray and her enemies would fall to her feet in a matter of seconds. The armor granted her protection and did not limit her speed. She appeared beautiful…but also frightening to both enemy and friends alike. Shadra was your Great grandmother…and as he descendant, you have carried on her name as one of the fastest dragons in the realms." Cecil slowly touched the chest plate of the armor, and like Spyro's, turned into an amulet though this one was black with an emerald jewel in the center. Cecil handed the amulet to Pyra, who gave it to Cynder.

"This armor is rightfully yours, Cynder." Cecil said. Cynder slowly took the amulet…and slowly she smiled as she placed it around her neck. She tapped the jewel, and the armor appeared around her in a bright flash of silver light and fit perfectly. Cecil smiled. "You've proven your worth…it is the least we can do…"

Cecil looked at the jewel on the central pedestal, and tapped his foot…soon the pedestal sank into the ground. Cecil looked to the two dragons.

"You all will be leaving for The Tall Plains soon…but I must warn you both." Cecil said. "The jungles of Tall Plains are huge…and are home to the natives that are called; The Gargoyles."

Spyro noticed the guardians present, and even Cynder, shift uncomfortably.

"Gargoyles?" Spyro asked. "Who're they?"

"The true natives of Tall Plains." Pyra said. Looked down at the two dragons. "Fierce creatures with strength that easily rivals that of a dragon…"

"And," Volteer began. "Their talons contain properties that can render any creature unconscious or, more likely, dead in a matter of seconds…effects do include…"

"What our talkative friend here means," Cyril interrupted before Volteer could ramble on, as usual. "That the Gargoyles' have poisoned talons which can kill any species."

"They also hold mistrust towards the other races." Terrador said, mostly from experience. "Little has been heard of the Gargoyles since the war."

Cynder looked at her lover. "Back when I was under Malefor's control, I recall Gaul traveling to Tall Plains once…sent an entire squad of heavy Apes with him…days later, he returned alone and scarred…he fought one of the Gargoyle leaders…infamously named 'The Eraser'."

"The Eraser?" Spyro asked…wondering why anyone would have a title like that.

"Put it simple," Cynder began. "If you fight him…the odds of survival are NOT in your favor."

Cecil stepped forward. "Ahh…Irvikuva is still alive." Cecil said, smiling.

"You know him?" Spyro asked. Cecil nodded.

"Gargoyles have a long lifespan, out aging that of even the dragons." Cecil said. "The gargoyles and the Empire are not allies. But due to Empress Emera promising that the Empire would not inhabit specific parts of Tall Plains, then the Empire and the Gargoyles would not be enemies either. The Gargoyles, from what I understand, respect Empress Emera…though I can imagine due to the other race's views on the Gargoyles and the effects of the war that the Gargoyles will not be too happy to see dragons…let alone a Purple Dragon, the grandson of Spectra. They may even attempt to kill you."

Spyro and Cynder lightly shivered.

Cecil smiled. "However…there may be a way to let them know you are on their side. Back during my first five years of being the Prophet of Spectra, Irvikuva, or known as the Eraser, once came to the Capitol. He and Emera were to talk and negotiate about letting the Atlawa and Earth dragons inhabit parts of Tall Plains. While he was at the Temple, I wanted to learn about his people's culture and language. So he taught me all about his people, his people's language along with his people's customs. We grew in friendship due to me wanting to learn about his culture." Cecil smiled, remembering hearing what The Eraser taught him. He looked up in Spyro and Cynder's direction. "If you're captured, ask to speak to Irvikuva. Should he see you, tell him I sent you. If he wants proof tell him this."

Cecil paused and then said. "Darkness brings solitude and safety; light brings exposure and harm."

"Why?" Spyro asked.

"Trust me," Cecil said. "He will know that the reason you are there is important. And he should tolerate you and your allies. Though the rest of his people may view you with hostility, Irvikuva will be willing to work with you…as long as his people gain something."

"What might that be?" Cynder asked. The guardians seemed uneasy.

Cecil shrugged. "You will find out eventually."

Cecil looked to the guardians. "Volteer…Terrador. May you stay here, I need to meditate…and reflect. I may need your help when I leave."

Terrador and Volteer bowed their heads. "Of course." Both guardians said.

Cecil looked at Cynder and Spyro.

"Good luck, may the Ancestors and The Goddess look after you and your friends." Cecil said. Spyro and Cynder nodded, and soon left the room along with Pyra and Cyril.

...

Electra was lying on some grass under a tree; just outside of the temple. She has been laying there ever since the meeting was adjourned and she was waiting for the others to get their so they could leave. It was kinda boring laying there and doing nothing however.

As if on cue with her thoughts, she heard footsteps approaching her position. She turned her head towards the sound and saw Spyro and Cynder walking towards her.

"Hey there!" the electric dragoness greeted cheerfully. She noticed that they were both wearing necklaces that weren't there before, but she decided not to comment on them at the moment.

"Hi, Electra. The others aren't' here yet?" Spyro questioned as they layed down across from her.

"Nope. I've just been laying here by myself." the yellow scaled dragoness answered with a dramatic sigh.

"We can stay and talk with you until the others get here." Cynder assured with a chuckle.

"You will? Awesome!" Electra cheered with a bright smile.

The two lovers just shook their heads with smiles and looked at her.

"Hey Electra, I've been meaning to ask. How come you don't believe that Spectra exists?" the purple dragon asked curiously, not trying to be mean.

"Well, my parents own a store not far from here. Well, both my parents never believed in Spectra and that thought process rubbed off on me." the electric dragoness explained casually. "I remember that I used to have a girlfriend who had the same beliefs I do." she recalled.

"Wait… you like girls?" Spyro asked with a very confused expression, earning a glare from Cynder.

Electra just giggled and gave them both a reassuring look.

"It's okay; I was told how he grew up with the dragonflies and never met anyone like me. I'm bisexual. That means I'm attracted to both girls and boys." she explained cheerfully, not taking any offense.

Spyro nodded in understanding Cynder cleared her throat to speak.

"So, if you don't believe in the Goddess, what do you believe in?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I personally think that we are descendents of past animals that are now extinct. There's a scientist in Lumimyrsky who calls in, evolution." the yellow scaled dragoness answered.

"Lumimyrsky is the capital of Dante's Freezer. It's a dragon city, like Warfang." Cynder quickly explained to Spyro, who had a puzzled expression.

Electra nodded in confirmation and smiled at them both. All three dragons noticed Mentem and Blaze coming towards them from two different directions. Electra, Spyro, and Cynder stood up and quickly stretched their muscles.

Spyro couldn't help, but notice how silent the two arrivals were and Blaze occasionally looked at Mentem to glare at him.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Electra asked suddenly, trying to break the tense silence.

"Yeah, let's go." Cynder replied and everyone else simply nodded.

The group of five looked at the temple one last time before they all took flight and flew in the direction of Tall Plains.

...

Luna felt her "guardian" lash out with the whip again. The snow wolf bit back the urge to cry out as the leather struck her back. Luna took a sigh of relief when the pain subsided.

Her "room" as her torturer called it, was nothing more than a small square cell. Luna hung from her arms by chains while her feet had chains latched onto them. She was unable to move any part of her body. The Emissary had been in tough situations…but the Forsworn were a completely different story. They did not take any chances with prisoners.

Her "Guardian" was a medium sized ape; his left hand was a metal prosthetic. He had various scars over his face, evident he barely survived a struggle with a dragon. He held the whip firmly in hi other hand. The ape merely smirked as he looked at the Snow Wolf. Luna remained emotionless as she hung in place.

"You know…" The Ape said, putting the whip back on the table on the far side in the room, and looked at the various tools on it that he used to torture the Forsworn's captives. He turned back to Luna. "I've never seen a Wolf quite as…attractive as you almost pains me to do this…almost."

Luna said nothing.

"Oh…a silent one. I'm aware that your clans are famous for their high pain tolerance, which makes it difficult for interrogators to get information out of them…" The interrogator said. But a sadistic smirk slowly crosses his face. "But I've made wolves like you more…obedient so to speak…I've made many of your clans' women my personal slaves…"

Luna's eyes seemed to harden, but other than that, her expression remained emotionless. Slowly the interrogator walked up to Luna and edged closer to her face, so close that Luna could smell the stench of alcohol in his breath. Luna slowly rolled her tongue in her mouth, gathering saliva and blood, and spat at the interrogators face, which hit him in the eye. The Interrogator roared in frustration as he quickly rubbed the saliva and blood from his eyes.

He glared at Luna, whom smirked at the Ape. The Ape growled and quickly pulled out a knife, and stepped forward, prepared to fatally stab his strong willed "Patient". Luna closed her eyes, preparing to welcome Death's embrace…and to hear the song of the Goddess.

But that's when she heard someone say. "Enough!"

The ape stopped, the blade coming within an inch of Luna's throat. The Ape spun around in frustration, only to immediately stiffen and drop the knife. Standing outside the cell, stood Oculos.

"Lo…Lord Oculos sir…" The Interrogator said nervously.

Oculos' unnatural yellow eyes stared into the Interrogator's nervous eyes with a furious glare.

"Lady Persephone ordered that she may be harmed…not killed." Oculos said sternly.

"Yes…but she!" The Interrogator said quickly, only to stop when he noticed Oculos' eyes seem to glow. The Interrogator wisely shut his mouth, aware of the stories of what happened to those who crossed Lady Persephone's second in command and right hand of the Forsworn. The Interrogator swallowed his pride and nodded. "I promise…it won't happen again…"

Oculos nodded, his eyes still glowing and said. "No…it won't."

Suddenly, Luna saw her interrogator start to convulse…and seem to let out a silent scream, as if he were being attacked by an invisible force…the interrogator suddenly fell to the ground, dead.

Luna starred at the corpse in shock, and looked up at Oculos, whose eyes stopped glowing. Oculos looked up at Luna, and said"I will send for someone to give you edible food and fresh water. You can rest easily…for now."

Luna continued to stare at the infamous "Death Dragon" in shock at what just transpired…could…Oculos kill someone by just looking at them?

She saw Oculos soon leave the cell. Luna looked down at the floor…and closed her eyes. She staid resistant to whatever the Forsworn threw at her…however she didn't know how long she could keep this up. Slowly, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath…and began to focus her energy in her body, trying to calm herself.

Seconds later, she felt all of the pain, mentally and physically, start to subside.

**A/N: For those of you who have read Native Avenger's fic "In The Name of Liberty II" you should be able to recognize Oculos' ability. And Spyro's armor is based on concept art that showed Ignitus in Dragon armor. Native Avenger and I both agree that the armor in Dawn of the Dragon...could've looked better. **


	8. Chapter 7: The Gargoyles of Tall Plains

**Chapter 7: The Gargoyles of Tall Plains**

**...**

Spyro, Cynder, Electra, Mentem, and Blaze were now flying over the jungles of Tall Plains. The jungles were just as vast as the purple dragon remembered and they could hear the tropic birds in the distance.

Electra talked casually with both Spyro and Cynder throughout the whole flight, but both Mentem and Blaze stayed absolutely silent. The others understood why they didn't want to talk and left them be.

In reality, Mentem still felt really about what happened during the protest and felt extremely hurt by what Typhoon, his father figure, said to him. Blaze however, was using a calming technique that ice dragons use to stay calm. He was still furious at the fear dragon, but he didn't want his hate to get in the way of their mission.

After awhile, the group began to grow tired from the constant flying. Cynder looked over at her allies and cleared her throat to speak.

"We should probably land and take a quick break." she suggested and the others nodded in agreement.

The group of five began to glide down within the jungle and they landed in a small clearing. They were almost immediately swarmed with bugs however, so Spyro let out some hot smoke flow out of his nostrils to keep the mosquitoes away.

"I always hated coming to this place. The bugs are unforgiving and these jungles give me the creeps." Cynder commented as she looked around the tropical environment and listened to the various animals in the distance.

"Yeah, this place is kinda creepy." Electra replied with a small nod of agreement.

"We shouldn't be here for that long. We just need to keep the peace and watch out for the Forsworn." Spyro assured. "Let's try walking around for a little bit to exercise our legs and get familiar with this place." he suggested after a few moments of silence.

The others went along with his idea and the five dragons started to walk around the dense jungle. They wandered around the thick trees and green foliage. They didn't really have a set path exactly; they just wanted to get their bearings around the jungle.

The group was walking in some tall grass with leaves all over the clear patches of ground until they heard something snap. They all sopped in confusion, but yelled out in surprise as they were pulled up into t he air all of a sudden. The group quickly learned that they had activated some kind of trap and they were now inside a large net that was hanging from a tall tree.

"What the hell!?" Blaze spoke for the first time since the trip started.

Just when Spyro was about to answer, a bunch of humanoid looking creatures with dark gray skin came out of the bushes and pointed razor sharp spears at them. The group immediately realized that these creatures were the gargoyles they were told to look out for.

"Go… to sleep." One of the gargoyles hissed before they each bashed the blunt end of their spears against the dragons' heads, effectively knocking them all out.

….

Spyro groaned quietly as he came to and his purple eyes slowly fluttered open. The first thing he realized was that he couldn't move. He looked down to see that a bunch of vines were wrapped around him and had him restrained to a large pole. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but some vines were tied around his snout.

Feeling panicked, the purple dragon looked around to see that his companions were in very similar scenarios and they were each on separate poles. It also appeared that they were in some kind of tribal village that was populated by gargoyles. The villagers themselves looked at the dragons with either hate or disgust, depending on the individual.

Cynder, Electra, Mentem, and Blaze soon woke up and immediately started panicking from their positions. They couldn't use their elements to escape because their mouths were forced shut and they couldn't even speak the words that Cecil told them to say if they got captured.

The gargoyles began to form a circle around the restrained dragons and some of them spoke in some kind of strange language. The dragons couldn't' understand what they were saying, but they were certain that it wasn't' in their favor.

The gargoyles cleared a path after a few moments and a very different gargoyle approached the dragons. Like the others, this gargoyle was humanoid in shape and had dark gray skin. He was also much taller than the others in the village and his eyes were yellow with black slits for pupils. His head resembled a goat with ram horns and two fangs could be seen poking out of his mouth. There were claws on the end of his fingers and two large bat wings could be seen on his back. Lastly, he had an armor breastplate that was completely made out of the bones from some kind of animal.

"The Eraser…" the villagers spoke in unison and bowed in respect.

Spyro could hear Electra whimpering in fear and he wish he could do something to comfort her. In truth, they were all very scared of their captors' very intimidating appearances and their situation in general. The stories they heard back in Warfang was enough to give them goose bumps, but this downright terrified them.

The gargoyle slowly walked up to the bound dragons and stared at each of them with an emotionless expression. Electra got the worst of it because she started crying on the spot and this gained the larger creature's attention. While the other gargoyles looked at the crying dragoness with disgust, he kept his blank expression. Her sobbing grew louder as he leaned close to her and he used his clawed finger to gently rub the tears off of her cheeks, which both comforted her and scared her.

The Eraser pulled his hand away after her sobs calmed down to loud whimpers and he looked at the rest of the dragons. He was silent for awhile, until he walked up to Spyro's pole and stood in front of him.

"Purple One… I've heard about you." the gargoyle leader spoke with a scratchy voice. "You are a descendent of the Nigawes." he added with a snarl at the name.

Spyro was confused by the name because he's never heard of it before. He really wished that he wasn't gagged so he could say something, but instead, he was forced to helplessly look at the very intimidating gargoyle.

"Nigawes has turned her back on us in favor of her precious dragon pets. And not only that, outsiders are not welcome in this place, yet you press on and trespass in our territory." the Eraser spoke calmly, but his facial expression hardened.

"Mmm…" the purple dragon tried to speak, but couldn't because of his gag.

The intimidating dragon bent down so they were both at eye level and he exhaled deeply. Spyro shivered when he felt the creature's warm breath brush against his face.

"I am going to remove your gag. If you try to use any of your elements, I will kill you myself." the gargoyle informed calmly, yet sternly.

The purple dragon nodded shakily and the large gargoyles used his razor sharp claws. Once the vines were off, the dragon cleared his throat as a way of gaining some courage.

"Cecil sent us here." Spyro informed, sounding much weaker than he would have liked.

The Eraser raised an eyebrow from this and one of the gargoyles in the background accused him of lying.

"Well, Purple One, what proof do you have of this?" the larger gargoyle questioned with his wicked sounding voice.

"D-darkness brings solitude and safety… light brings exposure and harm." Spyro recalled the saying and spoke it with a slight stutter and the beginning.

The Eraser seemed to lighten up from these words and he leaned away to give the captured dragon more space. He raised his hand to his shoulder height and held up two fingers. The other gargoyles immediately came forward and began to cut the vines off of the dragons, who were surprised that they listened. Electra was still sobbing and one of the gargoyles rested a hand on her shoulder to get her to calm down.

"Sshhh… we will not hurt you, dragoness." the gargoyle assured with a female voice.

Electra nodded shakily and sniffed away her tears. The female gargoyle nodded to her and looked at her leader.

"It seems that you have been told the quote that my father told me. Only Cecil would know this." The Eraser spoke as he looked at all the dragons, studying them. "Why have you come here?" he questioned curiously.

"We heard that tensions were growing in Tall Plains and we were sent here to keep the peace." Cynder spoke up before the others could answer.

The intimidating gargoyle slowly looked over at her and looked right into her green eyes. It was as if he was staring into her soul.

"You are Cynder, aren't you? The ape, Gaul, spoke of you before he fled like the coward he was." the Eraser said with a very slight smirk. "I assume that you've cut ties with him if you are with Cecil." he guessed accurately as his facial expression went back to being emotionless.

"Gaul is dead. I now fight for the well being of everyone; including the gargoyles." the black dragoness spoke with confidence.

"Fair enough, I suppose. Better you help Cecil than let those dirty apes tell you what to do. You are better than that." the intimidating gargoyle replied.

Spyro was about to speak up, but was interrupted by the sound of loud roaring. Everyone looked towards the north side of the village to see a bunch of Forsworn fighters running towards them with their weapons drawn.

The Eraser snarled as he reached over to a nearby table and picked up two hatchets that had blades made from obsidian. The other gargoyles armed themselves as well and the dragons adopted combat stances. Even if the two groups didn't trust each other, they both hated the Forsworn more and were willing to put aside their differences to fight this threat; this common enemy.

...

Persephone stood a few miles from the Gargoyle village. She hovered in the air as she watched her loyal troops attack the village. She noticed Spyro and his group fighting alongside the Gargoyles. The ancient Dragoness scoffed at the thought. Dragons and Gargoyles? Working together? That was unheard of…never have the two races seen eye to eye. Granted the two races were rumored to be cousins, due to the age of the two races.

But she knew that the Gargoyles were a powerful foe…which is why she ordered her Forsworn to attack the villages while she ordered a search through the forests of Tall Plains…to search for information regarding "the Key".

Persephone quickly flew away from the battle site, to continue her search.

….

Spyro finished his aerial combo on a Forsworn, who was an Atlawa, and then launched him into another group of Atlawa. He landed on the ground, and continued to attack the Forsworn alongside the gargoyles. The attack force mainly consisted of a few dragons and several Atlawa. The Atlawans were not much of a threat however. They seemed to be the cannon fodder while the dragons would attempt to take down the Forsworn. However, the appearance of the younger dragons was an unexpected surprise to them.

The purple dragon and the rest of his group attacked the Atlawa, which prevented the Atlawan Forsworn from overwhelming the gargoyles, so the fight was much easier than it would normally be for them. Occasionally, Spyro would glance back to see the gargoyles' fight. Their strength was amazing… and terrifying. They wielded their hatchets and spears with such mastery and ferocity.

Even the unarmed gargoyles were dangerous… he noticed that when the gargoyles would slash at their dragon foes, even a small nick, would cause the dragons to grow weak and possibly die. He remembered Cynder telling him on the flight over to Tall Plains that the gargoyles' claws were poisoned, making them as lethal as poison dragons in hand to hand fight, but he wasn't expecting them to be so skilled with their poison.

One gargoyle that Spyro was impressed with was an exceptionally well fighter. This particular gargoyle was young, judging on his appearance. He was also the same gargoyle who said, "Go to sleep" to the group before they had been knocked unconvinced while they were in the net.

The gargoyle had overpowered several stone dragons and killed them with ease using a swift strike from his hatchet. The hatchet itself had a blade made from obsidian.

But who Spyro was more impressed with… was the Eraser himself. Cynder was right… fighting him would not have many advantages. The Eraser easily outmatched the dragon attackers in strength. He also overpowered them as if he were fighting a young child. The aged warrior suffered no wounds when he fought and it was as if he were able to anticipate the attacks like he were reading the minds of his foes.

The battle was over within a few minutes.

When the battle was over, the surviving Forsworn dragons had escaped with the help of shadow dragons in the group…the Atlawa however, were not so lucky, they died fighting. Not willing to be taken prisoner. Knowing that should anyone of them speak…should they survive or by some slim chance escape and return to the Forsworn…Persephone would kill all of them.

When the remaining Atlawa were forced into a corner, they committed suicide, each of them praising Persephone's name.

A few minutes after the battle, Spyro and the rest of the group walked through the Gargoyle village meeting up with The Eraser, who spoke with the same younger Gargoyle that had knocked the group out before.

Spyro heard the two speaking in the Gargoyle language. He and the others waited until the two stopped speaking. A few seconds later The Eraser turned to the group.

Spyro spoke first. "Anyone hurt."

The Eraser nodded. "Only a few of my people were hurt…this isn't the first time we've been attacked. The Atlawa of Tasangot normally has a few reckless youth who attack…but this is the first time the Forsworn, the followers of Persephone, have attacked us…" He growled lightly. "The fools."

"Any idea why the Frosworn would just attack?" Spyro asked.

"No…" The Eraser said, emotionlessly. "But I will assume that whatever the reason is, will most likely originate in Tasangot…the Atlawan city a few miles from here."

Spyro nodded. "Thank you," He said. "My friends and I will leave and investigate the city."

The Eraser stared into the Purple dragon's eyes.

"Why do you seem eager to leave?" The Eraser asked. Spyro looked up at the older Gargoyle, then to his friends, motioning them away and saying he'll see them later. When they were at a distance.

"I know you don't like us because we're dragons. And about my connection to Nigawes, who I guess is your translation of Spectra." Spyro said respectively.

The Eraser sighed and said. "We do not hate you, Purple one. But we hold resentment towards your Grandmother, Nigawes, whom you call Spectra."

"But…why hold resentment towards her?" Spyro asked. "She wouldn't just abandon a single race."

The Eraser seemed to be choosing his words correctly…the way he did it was similar to the way Cecil spoke in council meetings.

The Eraser looked at Spyro, and answered. "My people's name for your grandmother is Nigawes, which would translate to your language as 'mother'. She gave birth to The First Dragons, whom one of your parents is. Then the birth of the mortal dragons and my people…My people, the gargoyles, worshipped your Grandmother and viewed her as our mother. Since she created our race…but we were different. Different from the other races. When the Atlawa came and settled on our land, due to us looking different and frightening to them just because of how we look. They made stories about us and demonized us." The old Gargoyle paused, Spyro could sense the anger behind his tone, but he kept it suppressed. "Your Empress Emera, one of the daughters of Spectra, had watched mortals of this world for countless centuries, including The Gargoyles. When she formed the Empire, she understood that due to the Atlawan's stories of us, she and I agreed in person that the Atlawa and other races could live on certain parts of our land…but when the Apes started the war…and the number of my people who were killed by the blind apes who followed Malefor…your Grandmother had all but forsaken us…"

Spyro shook his head. "No, she wouldn't." He said, in defense of the grandmother he had never met. Spyro looked at the ground. "She would never…"

"Do you have proof?" The Eraser asked, to which Spyro did not answer. The Eraser turned around to the Gargoyle next to him.

Spyro looked up, and saw the two converse. The Eraser, after a minute, turned to Spyro.

"Go to Tasangot…there maybe information there about why Persephone is so interested in our land." The Eraser suggested. Spyro nodded.

"Thank you." Spyro said.

"Also…I suggest you take Soturi," The Eraser said, gesturing to the younger Gargoyle, who looked at Spyro with slight mistrust. "You will need someone who knows the forests well. I suggest you do not fly to the city. If the Forsworn attack you, it will be from the air."

Spyro nodded. "Thank you…" He said. "I promise, we will make sure that we find what the Forsworn want on your land…and we'll make sure they don't get away with what they did."

The Eraser nodded. "Go." He simply said, motioning Spyro and Soturi off.

Spyro nodded, and walked away, followed by Soturi.

...

Spyro led the younger gargoyle over to the rest of the group, who immediately turned to look at them.

"Hey guys. This guy is gonna be our guide while we're here. His name is Soturi." the purple dragon introduced the gargoyle.

Soturi was gargoyle that was humanoid in shape and his skin was dark gray. He appeared to be very muscular and only a little shorter than the Eraser. His hands were clawed and he had a short, stubby tail. His head resembled a dark gray wolf and there were fangs sticking out of his lips. There were bat wings on his back and he was wearing brown furred robes from the waist down. His eyes were black while the part that would normally be white was red. Lastly, there was a deadly looking spear strapped to his back and a hatchet hooked to his belt.

"It's nice to meet you, Soturi." Cynder greeted with a small nod, trying to be polite and friendly.

The gargoyle just looked at her with an untrusting eye and remained silent. The group was a little unnerved by this, but both Mentem and Blaze stared back.

"Um... as you know, I'm Spyro. The black dragoness is Cynder; the fire dragon is Blaze; Electra's the yellow dragoness; and Mentem is the fear dragon with the hat." the purple dragon introduced, trying to make the conversation less awkward.

The gargoyle just nodded and continued to stare at them with a skeptical expression, making it obvious that he didn't' trust any of them. Electra looked very nervous to be around him and stayed behind Cynder for protection.

"Well uh… we should probably leave and get to the closest city." Spyro suggested after a long, awkward silence.

"Tasangot?" Soturi asked with a scratchy voice, speaking for the first time since the group was captured by him and the rest of the gargoyles. "I will lead you there." he assured them with an emotionless tone of voice.

The group was a little shocked from him speaking, but they nodded regardless and followed him out of the village and into the jungles. They followed the gargoyle through the thick foliage of the jungle floor and were tempted to fly, but they remembered what the Eraser said and stuck to the wet ground.

There were a few points where they saw the silhouettes of dragons flying in the skies above the thick trees, but Soturi motioned for them to keep going. They assumed that the Forsworn couldn't see them because of the jungle's dense foliage and trusted the gargoyle.

After what felt like hours passed, the gargoyle led them out of the jungles and a large stone city could be seen not too far from their current position. Atlawan guards could be seen patrolling the city walls and it looked like some dragons were flying above the buildings.

"We are here." Soturi informed them with a heavy frown.

...

**A/N: The Gargoyles of Tall Plains belong to Native Avenger.**


	9. Chapter 8: Complications

**Chapter 8: Complications **

**...**

**The Legends of the Worlds of Spectra: _The Infinity Items of Light_**

**_Ancient artifacts created by The Five High Priests of Spectra. Formed from powerful magic and an unknown ore; the priests created five powerful items. One to see the future, One to deflect any attack, One to unlock or seal someones soul or potential, One to strike anyone or anything anywhere from long distances and One to destroy any foe. The purpose of these weapons were to protect The Goddess while in the mortal worlds.  
_**

**_The items were The Priests greatest creations...but were also their greatest mistake. Even the power of the items created great fear in their creators. After seeing a vision of what would happen if the items fell in the wrong hands, the Priests sealed the items away, for all eternity. Not even The Chroniclers know the items exact locations. (1)_**

**_..._**

The group walked through the gates of Tasangot. As the group walked into the city, Spyro noticed how each of the building's were made out of stone, and the designs on each building was based off of the Atlawan tribes art he had seen back when he had first traveled to the region three years ago. As the group walked through the streets of the city, Spyro noticed that occasionally they got curious looks by the local Atlawan and Dragons. Mainly the civilians looked at Soturi, whom was dressed in a hooded robe to hide his appearance, since the Atlawan populace lives in fear of the Gargoyles.

As the group reached a market place in the city the group stopped.

Cynder looked around the market place. Seeing how there weren't just Earth Dragons and Atlawa living in the city…but also Apes as well. She noticed how the three races seemed to live with each other peacefully.

"Amazing…" Cynder said. "Apes living with the other races…looks like there really is peace in this city."

Soturi scoffed softly. "Yet they aren't afraid to make up lies and stories about other races…"

The group walked further into the market place square, until someone yelled out.

"Hey there! Yes you! Purple dragon!" The group turned to the noise, and saw an Earth Dragoness run up towards them, and skid to a halt right in front of Spyro. The Earth Dragoness, whom looked only twelve years old, grinned.

The Dragoness, like most Earth dragons, had green scales, her underbelly was light brown and she had two white horns. Her Tail Blade took the form of a brown spiked mace, similar to Terrador's.

Suddenly the young Earth Dragoness began to shake Spyro's left paw.

"My name's Mori!" She said happily. "It's such an honor to meet the famed Purple Dragon, and his mate! Cynder!"

Spyro and Cynder looked at one another.

Spyro looked at Mori and said. "Uhh…thanks…but..."

Mori grinned. "Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot. My father is an ambassador, who helps Tasangot in terms of Politics with the Empire. Lord Cecil sent a hawk and told my father you would be arriving soon. You didn't have any troubles did you?"

Spyro glanced at Soturi. Electra, Mentem, Blaze and Cynder shifted uneasily.

Spyro looked at the Ambassador's daughter. "None." He said. "Our companion was our guide and helped us reach the city safely."

Mori nodded. "Yeah, especially with the recent attacks by the Forsworn…"

"Attacks?" Blaze asked emotionlessly.

Mori nodded. "Yeah…the Forsworn have been setting up different kinds of attacks during the past few days. Both inside and outside the city." Mori shifted. "Not really helping with the recent illness."

"There's an illness here?" Cynder asked.

Mori nodded. "Yeah, a few years back a plague struck Tasangot and killed half the city's populace. Now there are a few people who are sick with this new illness. We have poison dragons working on seeing how the plague works."

"I could help with studying it." Cynder said voluntarily. "I do control the poison element after all."

Mori nodded. "Sure, the Poison dragons are living in near the docks to examine the samples of blood that have been taken."

Cynder nodded. She looked at Spyro, who nodded approvingly.

"I'll meet up with you guys later at the City's main hall…" Cynder said. "I'll see what I can do."

"Alright, be careful." Spyro said.

Soturi stepped forward. "I'll go with her…"

Spyro looked at their tall companion, and nodded.

Soon, the two walked away from the rest of the group and towards the docks. Mori looked at the rest of the group.

"I'll take you to the main hall." She said. She then gestured the group to follow her.

Spyro, Mentem, Blaze, Electra and Mori walked together silently, until Spyro broke the silence.

"Mori?" Spyro asked. "You seemed…almost too excited when you saw me…mind explaining?"

Mori looked at Spyro, and nodded and smiled. "Well you see…You're a hero across the realms. Even the city's who are not a part of the Empire know that." She said and looked up at the blue sky and sighed. "Most likely the Paladin Corps will approach you."

"The Paladin Corps?" Spyro asked, he'd heard the name several times, but didn't know who the group was.

Mori looked at Spyro in shock and disbelief.

"You've never heard of the Paladin corps!" She said, shocked.

Spyro shook his head.

"He was raised by Dragonflies." Electra said. Mori nodded.

"Understandable." The Earth Dragoness said. "Well, the Paladin corps were once Empress Emera's hidden blade for the Empire. When the Forsworn were a threat before Malefor was born, the Paladins would hide in the crowd, and when they spotted a Forsworn, would stop the Forsworn agent before they attacked, in turn the Paladins saved countless citizens and families. The Paladin Corps had nine members, one for each element, and the Corps only took orders from Empress Emera and, rumors say, from The Goddess herself. When the war began, and Emera disappeared, the Corps took to the shadows, only involving themselves in the war unless specific circumstances demanded."

Spyro heard Mentem scoff. "Yeah…if they would have helped more, less people would have died."

Mori glared in Mentem's direction, but shrugged off the anger seconds later.

"Anyways, the Earth Paladin was killed shortly before the attack on Warfang…and since you saved the world, I was hoping I could travel with you and your friends…possibly gaining the attention of the Corps. So I can help others." Mori said.

Spyro nodded, understanding. "I guess you could tag along with us."

Mori's eyes brightened. "THANK YOU THANK YOU!" She yelled happily.

Mentem's eyes rolled lightly. "Oh brother…"

Blaze looked coldly in his direction. "At least she's willing to help fight for a group who doesn't hurt bystanders." Blaze muttered under his breath.

Mentem turned and stared at Blaze. The two glared at one another for several long seconds. The tension between the two rising until Electra stood in between the two of them and pushed them away from each other.

"You two! Stop!" She yelled. This caught the attention of several people walking past the group. She looked at Blaze. "Blaze, we both know that what we did back in Warfang was out of line, hurting Tula. But now is not the time to be letting your anger slip."

Blaze glared at the electric dragoness, his eyes flashing a fiery orange briefly. But slowly, he walked away from the group, and held up his left paw, closed his eyes, and began to breathe slowly, calming his rage. When his rage was calmed, he rejoined the group, but avoided Mentem's eyes entirely, but pushed past the Fear dragon roughly.

Spyro shook his head and then said "Eventually, you two will have to bury the hatchet, or else the rest of us are going to pay for it."

With that, the group continued onto the main hall. As they approached the main hall, Blaze noticed Mentem look towards an alleyway, stop and quickly broke away from the main group with no one but Blaze noticing, Blaze watched as Mentem disappeared into the alleyway, and seemingly vanish.

Blaze turned his head, and shrugged lightly. Whatever Mentem was up to, Blaze did not care. All he cared about was that he didn't have to see the hat wearing Dragon in his presence. Just the sight of the Fear dragon made Blaze's blood boil, knowing that Mentem had hurt the very dragoness he loved as a sister. Blaze would never forgive Mentem, not for hurting the Dragoness he loved, regardless of if it were an accident. Seeing Tula run into the temple…crying and her scales burned, was something Blaze would not let go of easy.

...

Mentem walked down the dark alleyway alone and away from his friends with a heavy frown under the shadows of his hat. He knew that the group was mad at him for the accident back in Warfang and he didn't care if they noticed him gone or not. All he cared about right now was finding Luna.

He had reached the other side of the alley once he finished that thought and he walked amongst the crowd out in the open. He's done much recon in the past and he knew exactly what he was doing.

The fear dragon spotted a bunch of Atlawans wearing black robes talking across the block and inconspicuously walked on over to them. He made sure to stay close to the crowd so it looked like he was just looking into one of the store windows.

"Did you hear about that wolf prisoner that was caught in Dante's Freezer?" one of the Forsworn spoke.

"Keep your damn voice down. Do you want the world to know of our activities?" another Forsworn replied harshly with a throaty growl. "To answer your question, yes. I've heard about it." he added more calmly than before.

"What do you think they're gonna do to her?" the first one asked more quietly this time.

"I don't know. I heard that Benedict knows where she's being held though." the second Forsworn answered.

"And where is he?" the other questioned with a raised eyebrow under his hood.

"He's staying at a tavern called Underworld. It's just across the street from here actually." the second Atlawan answered and he pointed at said tavern.

Mentem stopped listening at this point and walked across the street like the Forsworn said. He was determined to find Luna and he'd do whatever he could to save her. Unknown to him, there was a certain cheetah who listened in on the conversation as well. This cheetah frowned under his red hood and he walked off as the fear dragon entered the tavern.

….

Spyro, Electra, and Blaze followed Mori into one of the governmental buildings and down a hallway. They approached a door made of wooden at the end of the hall and the earth dragoness politely knocked.

"Enter!" a male voice called from inside the room.

Not wanting to keep whoever was on the other end waiting, the group walked in to see a bunch of adult dragons sitting at a large table. It appeared that they were talking about something important before they came in and the table itself was littered with paperwork. The dragons themselves were wearing fancy looking clothes that were meant for dragons. Most of them looked to be the snobby type, but there were a few of them who looked kind hearted.

'Politicians.' Electra thought to herself with a mental scoff, but she didn't physically do anything to express her thoughts.

"Hey dad! I brought Spyro and his friends!" Mori said loudly as she raced up to one of the dragons, who was most likely the ambassador.

The ambassador had green scales with a brown underbelly and wing membranes. His brown horns curved slightly and his tailblade looked like a mace. He was also wearing green, traditional robe golden, lightweight armor plating on it. Lastly, his eyes were hazel in color.

"Greetings Spyro and friends. My name is Marik." the robed dragon greeted with a kind smile and a nod.

"Hi. These are my friends; Blaze, Electra, and…" Spyro trailed off as he looked around for Mentem.

"Is something wrong?" Marik asked politely with a raised eyebrow.

"We had another friend with us, Mentem, but he's not here anymore." the purple dragon answered as he hectically looked around, trying to find his friend.

He noticed that Blaze was looking away at this point and he frowned. He walked right up to the fire dragon, who slowly looked up at him with a blank expression.

"Blaze. Where. Is. Mentem?" Spyro asked, putting emphasis on every word.

"Gone." the fire dragon answered emotionlessly and without regret.

"Gone?" the purple dragon asked as his frown deepened.

"Gone." Blaze repeated in the same tone of voice as before.

"What are you kids talking about?" one of the politicians asked as he stood up. "We were in the middle of something before you all barged in here." he said angrily, sounding very impatient.

This politician was a slightly overweight fire dragon with bright red scales and orange eyes. His underbelly and wing membranes were a golden yellow color and his eight horns were white and pointed straight back. His tailblade was also white and it was in the shape of a crescent.

"Mendax, these are our guests and we need to be respectful. Besides, Spyro is worthy of our respect." Mendax told the overweight dragon with a disproving tone of voice.

The fire dragon simply scoffed at this, but he stayed silent and sat back down. The robed dragon mentally sighed and looked over at the kids again.

"Sorry about our mayor; he can be a bit impatient at times." he apologized. "Now then, if you wish to delay our meeting to look for your friend, then go ahead." He told the group with a kind smile.

"Thank you, Marik. We'll be back as soon as we can." Spyro promised with a smile and a nod before he led his group, now including Mori, out of the room.

Blaze didn't like the change of plans, but he followed regardless. He could tell that the others were angry with him right now, but he didn't care in the slightest.

The others were in fact mad at him, but they weren't going to scold him until they found Mentem.

...

The journey to the docks was not an eventful one. Cynder and Soturi said nothing to one another during the walk to the docks…that greatly caused uneasiness with Cynder. She wanted to start a conversation, however, Soturi's stoic personality made it difficult to even speak a word. Eventually, much to Cynder's relief, they reached the docks.

When they arrived at the docks, multiple tents with the Poison dragon insignia, an emerald green liquid drop, were sown onto the group of tents. As the two entered the camp, Cynder noticed several poison dragons walking across the camp. The poison dragons were mainly a light green in color and were normally smaller than an Earth dragon by a few inches, but what they lacked in strength, the made up for in speed. Which was greatly aided with their talons, which, like the Gargoyle's, could be poisonous if the unfortunate victim was scratched with them.

Cynder noticed poison dragons sitting next to an Atlawan child, who looked sick and was sweating rapidly. Cynderlooked away sadly, and continued on with Soturi to the main tent.

As they approached the lead Poison dragon's tent, the two were stopped by two none poison dragons, one was a fire dragon and the other was a sand dragon. Both wore lightweight armor.

"You shouldn't be here." The Sand dragon said, calmly and emotionlessly.

"Please," Cynder began. "Let us by. I'm Cynder and I've been sent by The Guardians and The Prophet of Spectra."

"Yes we know who you are, Mi lady." The Fire dragon spoke. "But I'm afraid you can't enter Lady Hera's tent…she is busy at the moment…"

"I can help her if she is studying the illness." Cynder said calmly. "One of my elements are Poison. I could help."

The two sentinels glanced at each other. The sand dragon looked at Cynder.

"You don't know Lady Hera…" The Sand dragon began. "When she starts studying something…"

A sudden explosion from with cut him off in the main tent. Suddenly, the fire and sand Dragon sentinels pushed back the flap and ran into the tent, followed by Cynder and Soturi…which the two, even Soturi, wished they hadn't.

As soon as they entered, a stench had filled the air within the tent, which smelt like a bunch of aged old cheese and rotten fruit…the entire atmosphere of the tent was filled with a grey smoke. Cynder quickly took a deep breath, coughing as she inhaled the foul air, and blowing a strong gust of wind.

Seconds later, the stink and the smoke cleared and the two sentinels helped a poison Dragoness stand up. The Dragoness looked as though she were in her mid twenties, she was thin in aappearance, she had light green scales and a dark blue underbelly. She had two horns that were white in color. Over her grey eyes was a pair of spectacles. Slowly she waved her left paw in front of her face.

"Ughh…" The Dragoness said. "Phew…bad idea…that would be a terrible cure…"

Slowly she walked up to a table in her tent, and began to work…as if Cynder and Soturi weren't even there. The two sentinels were about to tell Cynder and Soturi to leave, until the Dragoness held up her paws.

"No, they can stay!" She said. The two Sentinels nodded and left the tent. The dragoness turned to Cynder and Soturi and smiled while adjusting her glasses. "Greeting, my name is Hera. I'm in charge of the Imperial Medic corps."

"I'm…" Cynder began, only to be cut off by Hera.

"Yes, I know who you are Cynder. It is an honor to meet you." Hera said, bowing her head, which Cynder returned. Hera then stood up straight. "Well…I assume you're here to help me?"

Cynder and Soturi nodded.

Hera smiled. "It would be good…I've been trying to make a cure…however my most recent attempt ended…in a very stinky way…so to speak." Hera said. She looked at Soturi, curiously. "My…a Gargoyle! You will help!"

Cynder and Soturi froze. Hera held up one paw, a silent way of saying 'it's fine'.

"Now," Hera began. "I have no prejudice against your people. In fact, it's the opposite. I have the utmost respect for the Gargoyles. After all, your people have alternate uses for your poison which includes healing. Some methods that the Medical corps of the Empire have adopted."

Soturi merely nodded, but Cynder could sense that Soturi might've found respect for Hera after what she said. Hera walked over to her desk and looked at several flowers in vases. Cynder walked up to her side. Cynder recognized the flowers inside the vases…they were exotic…but mainly poisonous to Dragons, Atalawa, Apes, Moles…pretty much any of the races.

"I thought the Medical corps were assigned to find out the cause of the plague?" Cynder asked.

Hera nodded, and looked around her tent as if she thought someone were listening. Hera, after a few seconds, then looked back at Cynder and nodded.

"Yes, that is our goal…but we think we've found something…" Hera said, pulling out a scroll from a shelf and unraveled it. It included strange drawings of flowers and the majority of the scroll was a map of the city. "A few years ago, the plague started from bacteria that were brought in from a shipment…but now, the illness we're fighting…it's different. The bacteria from before was natural…but this…is not. This was engineered.

"These flowers I drew," Hera gestured to the scroll. "Are native to the desert regions…but have recently come in from a new shipment…they are beautiful…but lethal if pounded into a mixture."

"You mean…you think someone purposefully started it?" Cynder asked. Hera nodded.

"Yes…not only that, but I, and Guardian Terrador…believe that this city's politicians maybe involved." Hera paused and then said. "We believe they may even be a part of The Forsworn…"

...

Mentem entered the tavern and looked around the new area he was in. There were a bunch of Atlawans having various drinks. He kept his head down and walked over to the counter to make it look like he was just there for a drink. He immediately spotted an Atlawan wearing the Forsworn robes and frowned heavily.

'He must be Benedict. How am I going to get him to tell me what I wanna know?' the hat wearing dragon thought to himself.

The fear dragon looked around some more and saw a chess board on the other side of the room and he smirked. Now that he had a plan, he walked over to the Atlawan and lightly tapped his shoulder.

"Huh? What do you want?"Benedict asked with a raised eyebrow as he turned around to look at the dragon.

"I was wondering if you'd like to play a game of chess with me." Mentem replied with a forced smile.

The Forsworn smirked back and nodded, liking the idea.

"Alright, we'll play." he agreed before he took a swig from his mug and set it down on the counter.

The two participants walked over to the table with the board and they sat down opposite of each other. The Atlawan quickly set up the board for them and he waited for Menem to make the first move because he had white pieces.

"So, what do you do for a living?" the fear dragon asked casually as he moved one of his pawns up two spaces.

"Oh, I'm just a nobody. I' don't do anything special." the Atlawan answered as he moved a pawn up one space.

"A nobody. Sure; not part of the forsworn or anything." Mentem almost scoffed as he moved up another one of his pawns.

"…How do you know about the Forsworn?" Benedict demanded, but he kept his calm and moved one of his knights.

"I'm an informant for the Forsworn." the tricorn hat wearing dragon lied with almost flawless acting and he moved his Bishop up three spaces.

The robed Atlawan visibly relaxed from this and they continued playing the game in silence for awhile. He ordered a mug of rum halfway through the game and Mentem could tell that he was starting to get very drunk.

"So, I heard that you guys have a prisoner now." the fear dragon said casually, seeing his chance to get some information.

"Huh…? Oh, you mean the wolf bitch. Yeah, we caught her in that ice pit called Dante's Freezer." The Forsworn answered as he wobbled in his eat a little and he moved his rook forward five spaces, taking out the dragon's last bishop.

Mentem just barely stopped himself from growling at the man. He hated it when people insulted his friends, but he was able to hold in his anger and he let the guy continue.

"That damn wolf girl was taken to one of our prisons and we whip her every day. I was there to whip her once after the first guy was… fired. You should've seen the look on her face. She wasn't having the best of times and damn, she was good looking. I wouldn't mind interrogating her back in my room and in bed." The Atlawan continued with a drunken laugh at the end.

The fear dragon was frowning heavily and he was glaring daggers at the Forsworn at this point.

"That's it." Mentem said darkly before he suddenly bolted up, grabbed the chess board, and smashed it against Benedict's face.

The Atlawan grunted in pain from the strike and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. Everyone else in the tavern looked at the furious fear dragon and almost all of them adopted combat stances.

"I'm gonna beat the shit outta ya!" an Atlawan with a Scottish accent yelled as he drunkenly charged towards Mentem, only for the dragon to sidestep him and he ran right into the table that the chess game was being played on.

The table smashed and the drunk fell to the floor with a loud smash. Mentem quickly got into a combat stance as everyone who wanted to fight him circled around him. The dragon quickly grabbed a bottle of beer and threw it at one of the fighters, hitting him on the head and knocking him out.

The fear dragon lowered his head to hide his face and he quickly twirled around, knocking three of the drunken fighters to the ground with his tail. He then whipped around and punched another one in the face, breaking his jaw.

"Screw this!" one of the drunks yelled before they all stumbled away as fast as they could.

Mentem just rolled his eyes at the drunks and looked over at Benedict, who was trying to stand up, only to fall over. He quickly walked over to the downed Atlawan and roughly pinned him to the ground.

"Where is the wolf prisoner." he demanded harshly as he exposed his teeth in a threatening frown.

"I'm not saying a damn thing." the Forsworn replied defiantly with a slight bit of nervousness in his voice.

The hat wearing dragon let out a growl as his eyes began to glow red and he inhaled deeply. All of a sudden, he let out a loud shriek and a cone of crimson energy escaped his mouth and smashed into the Atlawan's face, whose eyes widened and he started shivering in fear.

In his perspective, the area around them grew darker and Mentem looked like his teeth sharpened and his scales were a much darker shade of red.

"Where is the wolf prisoner?" Mentem repeated his earlier question, but his voice sounded distorted and demonic.

"S-she's at Fort Shinigami… along the coastline…" Benedict answered quietly with a terrified whimper at the end.

All of a sudden, the affects of the Banshee Shriek began to where off and the area looked normal again. The Fear dragon's eyes stopped glowing red and they returned to their usual yellow color. He then stood up and turned around so his back was facing the now crying Atlawan.

"Thank you for the information, Benedict." Mentem said emotionlessly before he walked out of the tavern without another word.

**A/N: (1) The items play an important role in the future...but not necessarily this fic.**


	10. Chapter 9: Fort Shinigami

**Chapter 9: Fort Shinigami **

Oculos and Persephone walked across the Cliffside near the coast of Tall Plains. The sun had set, making the air cool down the atmosphere of Tall Plains. It had been hours since the failed attack on the Gargoyle village…and so far no information on The Key. Persephone was preparing to leave for Boyzitbig to continue her search, while leaving Oculos in command of the situation in Tall Plains. But before Persephone left, she wanted to speak with her second in command.

Oculos was silent as he followed his leader and mentor, waiting for her to speak first. Slowly, the two stopped and Persephone smiled.

"You know," Persephone said, calmly. "I've always loved the night better than the day…so much you can do."

Oculos nodded. Persephone turned to her second in command.

"Be ready at any moment…in case someone tries to save our 'guest'." Persephone said while smiling sadistically.

Oculos nodded again.

"Things will go as you planned, Persephone." Oculos said calmly. Persephone nodded and looked out at the crescent shape moon and then back at Oculos.

Slowly, she walked up close to Oculos, Oculos remained still and bowed his head. He then felt Persephone place her paw over his head. Slowly Oculos looked up at Persephone…and saw her smile…that same smile she gave him when she first found him all of those years ago. He had aged, but she had not.

Persephone then said. "Do you remember what I told you?"

Oculos, remembering, nodded.

Persephone said. "You still have beautiful eyes…no matter what others may say or feel."

Oculos said nothing. Slowly, Persephone rubbed the top of his head in a sibling like manner, and stepped back.

Slowly, she raised her wings.

She then said. "Good luck, I will return here in three days…don't disappoint me."

Oculos merely smiled lightly. "Have I ever?" Oculos asked.

Persephone laughed lightly. "No, no you haven't."

With that, Persephone flapped her wings, and the ancient dragoness flew off into the night sky, immediately vanishing into the night. Oculos looked off into the direction his mentor flew off to…and began to think of the past…that day his life had changed. The day Persephone gave him purpose.

...

Many years ago in the land know as Tall Plains, a little dragon with gray scales and peculiar eyes was running away from a mob of angry Atlawans. This dragon was none other than Oculos as a child. He looked very scared as he ran from the angry mob through the jungles of the region.

"Get back here, monster!" one of the people in the crowd shouted with hate in their voice.

The little dragonling started crying as he ran between two large rocks, only to get cornered and he whipped around to see his furious pursuers. He started to breathe heavily in terror as he backed up against the wall and the Atlawans slowly approached him.

"Please don't hurt me…" Oculos begged through his sobs as he tried in vain to stop crying.

"Restrain the bitch!" one of the Atlawans said harshly and a bunch of them roughly grabbed the child.

They took out a bunch of rope and began to tie his limbs together and his snout shut. His vision went to black as they firmly tied a blindfold over his eyes and he was thrown onto the ground. He whimpered pathetically when he heard the sound of a dagger or knife being unsheathed and he started crying behind the blindfold.

"Wait. Who're you-AH!" Oculos heard one of the Atlawans cry in pain with the sound of something slashing into flesh.

'What's going on?' the little dragonling thought worriedly to himself as he heard the sounds of intense fighting.

He didn't have much time to think because he was hit in the head with what felt like a club. This caused him to black out and his world went dark.

…

Oculos groaned quietly as his unnaturally colored eyes fluttered open to see a cloudy sky above him. He also quickly noticed that he was wrapped in fur blankets to keep him warm and he was in a snowy environment.

"You're in Dante's Freezer; just outside of Lumimyrsky." He heard a female voice speak out.

The little dragonling looked to his left to see a black dragoness sitting next to him and she was tending to a small campfire. He tried to get up, but he heard her speak again.

"You're still weak from earlier. Rest." the larger dragoness told him. "You've been out for a whole day." She added.

Oculos eyes widened at the realization and he figured that she must've saved his life. He laid back down in the warm blankets and looked at her with those yellow and red eyes of his.

"Who are you?" the gray scaled child asked quietly after a few moments of silence.

"My name is Persephone. I seek to change the world and make dragons ascend to their rightful place; making the world better for everyone." the dragoness explained with some proudness in her voice.

"What do you mean by that?" Oculos asked with interest, but he still sounded nervous.

She just chuckled at the question and fully faced him.

"That's a story for another day. What I want to talk about, are those eyes of yours and your abilities to kill someone just by looking at them." She replied with a small smirk.

"How did you-?" the small dragonling started.

"I know all about you, Oculos. I've been watching you for awhile now. I know that you accidentally killed your parents and how people treat you like a monster just because you're different." Persephone spoke, cutting him off. "I want you to use your abilities on me." she said all of a sudden.

"What? No, I don't want to hurt you." Oculos said quietly with a very uneased expression, but she just smiled at him.

"Go ahead and do it." Persephone told him, but he still refused. "I promise that everything will be okay." She added.

Oculos began to feel frustrated from her persistence and his eyes began to glow. He still didn't want to do it, but he knew that she wouldn't stop until he did as she asked. He focused his death powers on her, but was greatly surprised when nothing happened. His eyes slowly stopped glowing and her smile widened.

"You can't kill something that can't be killed." The black scaled dragoness said softly before she gently placed her paw on his head. "Your eyes aren't scary nor hideous… your eyes are beautiful…" she told him with honestly in her voice.

The little gray scaled dragon was greatly surprised by her words and he felt a lot more comfortable around her. She then pulled her paw away and smiled down at him.

"I'm going to give you a choice that will determine your future. You can either go to Lumimyrsky where my friends will take care of you. You will also never go through suffering there or any hardship. OR… you could travel with me." she spoke up after a few minutes of them staring into each other's eyes.

"Travel with you? Where would we go?" Oculos asked with honest curiosity and she simply smiled.

"The road I travel is one filled with pain and most likely lose… it is not a road for young dragonlings to follow. But if you do follow me… there is no turning back." The black scaled dragoness answered as she stood up.

She then began to walk away, not giving him much time to think about his choices.

"Don't go…" the little gray dragon said quietly as he sat up, but she just kept walking.

Oculos slowly looked towards the city of Lumimyrsky in the distance, liking the thought of staying somewhere safe for the rest of his life, but he didn't want to leave Persephone. He looked over at her again and ran after the dragoness who saved his life.

...

**Tasangot:**

Spyro, Blaze, Electra and Mori had been searching for Mentem for hours…up to the point where the sun had already set, and the evening activities had begun. Obviously the politicians and the mayor of Tasangot were no longer waiting for the group…knowing how long the young dragons had been looking for their hat wearing friend. Spyro felt irritated that Blaze had seen Mentem walk away from the group and did not mention anything to him or the others…Spyro wanted to yell at Blaze, but he knew it wasn't worth it. He couldn't get angry and cause further friction in the group…

The search for Mentem eventually lead to the party to a tavern, named "Underworld" which was located in the slums of the city. Some bruised Atlawan mentioned how a "Hat wearing lunatic" had hit an Atlawan in the face with a chess board, and then proceeded to beat up several Atlawan attackers in the bar, then used the Fear dragon used his element on the Atlawan named Benedict and left.

Spyro and the group realized that the Atlawan named Benedict obviously said something to anger Mentem and Mentem must've met with Benedict for some kind of information and wherever the fear dragon was headed, Benedict would know.

The group walked down the alleyway, and found the tavern. Right as they approached the tavern a drunk, and beaten up, Atlawa, which the group deduced was Benedict.

"No good…hat wearing…son of an dragon bitch…" The Atlawan muttered under his breath, while dabbing a piece of cloth over his forehead. "Persephone's going to have my head for this…this…"

The Atlawa paused as he saw Spyro, Blaze, Electra and Mori. His eyes darted to Spyro, who stepped forward.

"Benedict." Spyro said calmly.

The group heard the Atlawa gulp lightly. Before anyone could react, Benedict reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a smoke pellet, which he threw onto the ground, causing a smoke screen to appear. Spyro and the group shielded their eyes quickly, but seconds later the smoke screen faded and Benedict was running weakly away.

Spyro and the group were about to give chase, until a green dragoness dove out of the sky, tackled the Atlawa and pinned him to the ground, her tail blade to his throat. The group ran towards the new Dragoness, but stopped when the group saw the dragoness raise one paw to them, and held up her index talon as a silent way of saying "Wait". Spyro nodded to the others, and the group let the dragoness handle it.

"I suggest you don't make a move," The Dragoness told Benedict. "I am a poison dragon, so my tail blade, claws and teeth and release poison at will, one nick from my tail blade, and you will die instantly."

Benedict stared up at the dragoness in fear; the Dragoness pushed her tail blade closer to his throat.

"Now then…you and I are about to have a little talk and you WILL comply." The Dragoness said coldly.

The Atlawa nodded, fearfully as he stared into the Dragoness' green eyes.

"Yyess…" He said, nervously.

The Dragoness nodded. "Good…very good."

Slowly, The Dragoness turned to the group and motioned them forward. Spyro and the others walked towards the new Dragoness, and seconds later Cynder and Soturi appeared from one of the alleys.

"Cynder!" Spyro said smiling at his mate. "I thought you were at the docks helping."

"I was," Cynder said and then gestured to the Dragoness. "This is Hera, leader of The Medical Corps. She's been looking for a cure to the plague and also it's causes…and what we've discovered was…disturbing."

"How so?" Mori asked, curious as to what would the cause of the plague be.

"Now isn't the time," Hera said, adjusting her glasses. "We'll most likely encounter trouble in a few minutes if we don't get our…patient somewhere private."

The group nodded. Cynder looked to Soturi, and nodded at the young Gargoyle. Soturi nodded and approached the Atlawa. The Atlawa looked up at the cloaked Gargoyle fearfully as Soturi grabbed him by the collar, and the group soon left the alley.

….

**The Docks**

Benedict was strapped to a chair in Hera's tent…to say that the Atlawa was scared would be an understatement…

Spyro explained to Cynder and Soturi about the argument Blaze and Mentem had and how Mentem had run off…and how they learned that Benedict knew where Mentem was headed. Cynder stared at Blaze with slight annoyance, annoyed that the Fire dragon had seen Mentem leave but did not even bother to tell the other that he had gone off on his own.

Cynder then told the rest of the group about their findings about the causes of the plague being spread. How the illness was caused by flowers brought in through traders, hired by the Forsworn, in the desert port cities and then the flowers were pounded into a mixture and mixed with the bacteria that caused the last outbreak, and someone released the plague.

Hera continued the discussion. "We know that the Forsworn must have released the powder from a high point in the city, however, we need to know who caused the outbreak. We believe this city's politicians may have released the plague…and are in line with the Forsworn."

Mori, who was sitting on a pillow like everyone else, was in a circle, nodded lightly.

"Father's told me how Mayor Mendax has been…rather suspicious lately. He's always had a questionable record, even before becoming leader of the city." Mori commented. "He's also a sex craved dragon…known to flirt with his maids…at the same time those maids appear bruised at times after their 'appointments' with him."

"Disgusting…" Soturi muttered.

Hera nodded, adjusting her glasses again. She turned to their prisoner.

"Now then…" She muttered as she stood and approached Benedict. "Is Mendax apart of The Forsworn? And who supplied you with the flowers needed to create the plague…don't lie to me, because my sources tell me you are The Forsworn's eyes and ears here in Tasangot."

Benedict at first said nothing, until Hera gestured to Soturi, who approached the Atlawa, and pulled his hood down. The Atlawa froze as the hood came down…seeing the Gargoyle. The Atlawa began to shake worriedly.

He looked to Hera. "We…we got the flowers from a…a poison dragon! A dragoness…what was her name…uhh…uhh…Orm! That's right! Her name was Orm! She's great with alchemy…and…and…uhh…she was willing to update the plague…" Benedict looked to the others and back at Hera. "I swear! I didn't release the plague, it was that fatty Mendax! He willingly sold the lives of the people of this city!"

Hera nodded lightly and adjusted her glasses again. She rubbed her chin lightly.

"Hmm…Orm…" She muttered as she approached her desk and wrote something down. "I think I've heard of that name before…" She turned to Benedict. "Spyro, you may do your interrogation now…I just need to make a message to Lord Cecil and The Guardians, informing them of what we've learned."

Spyro nodded, got up and approached the prisoner. The Atlawa looked up at Spyro and seemed to cringe away…Spyro realized that obviously the Forsworn agents did not like to be close to descendents of Spectra and were disgusted with them.

Spyro ignored the Atlawa and said. "We know who gave you the bruises," Spyro said calmly. "Our friend Mentem, a fear dragon, he came and spoke to you. Didn't he?"

Benedict nodded.

"Where is he?" Spyro asked.

Benedict merely smirked. "As if I'd tell you anything, you demoness spawn!"

Spyro noticed Cynder growl and step forward, her scythe tail blade dragging against the ground. Spyro turned to her, and shook his head. Cynder looked at her mate and nodded reluctantly.

Spyro turned to him.

"We're asking you a simple question, we're is he. And what did you tell him?" Spyro said. He leaned forward to Benedict's face. "Tell us where he went, we leave you alone, you don't see us ever again. Fair?"

Benedict continued to stare at Spyro, but then reluctantly nodded.

"He asked us about a wolf prisoner…a bitch we captured in Dante's Freezer…of course you would know, you were there. She's of that tribe who lives in the mountains of Dante's Freezer…pretty bitch she is." Benedict said, laughing lightly. Spyro resisted the urge to claw Benedict into submission, but remained calm.

It made sense now. Mentem was looking for info on Luna…the two had been partners for so long, it only made sense for Mentem wanting to know if she was alive or not. But to go and rescue her on his own? Why?

"Where is Luna being held?" Spyro asked calmly.

"A Fort…" Benedict said, smugly.

"Which fort!" Spyro said, irritated.

"Fort Shinigami." Benedict said. "Located on the coastline, we call it Shinigami because you don't break out of their…not without losing your sanity. The bitch is most likely already…being obedient…I'd love to take her to bed."

That's when it happened…Cynder lashed out with her claws, scratching the Atlawa across the chest. Benedict cried out in agony from the scratch, his chair tipped over from the force and he was knocked unconscious.

Spyro turned to his mate, and saw her slowly calm down. Cynder looked up at Spyro.

"I hate perverts…" She muttered. Spyro nodded and looked to the others. Hera had just completed her letter, and attached it to the leg of a hawk.

"I'll come along," Hera said calmly. "If you're looking for your friend…most likely the Forsworn has done something to her in terms of internal poisoning. I can assist in terms of medical."

Spyro nodded, gladly accepting a healer to the group.

"Alright…" Spyro said. "Let's get to the coast…before Mentem makes his move."

However, little did the group know that Mentem had already made his move.

...

**Out side Fort Shinigami: Eastern Coastline of Tall Plains**

Mentem was rushing through the Tall Plain jungles with his head tipped won slightly, having his tricorn hat covering most of his face in shadows. His white robes flapped behind him as he ran through the dense foliage.

The fear dragon eventually came to a stop when he reached a clearing and he spotted Fort Shinigami right next to a cliff. He was about to run up to it, but he quickly realized just how heavily guarded the place was. He groaned quietly in frustration as he sat down in the grass and went into deep thought.

"How the hell am I supposed to get in there without a partner?" he mumbled quietly to himself with heavy frown. "I'm not used to doing this stuff myself." he added with his head down.

His mind drifted off of the task at hand however and he began to think about the first recon mission that he ever performed… and it was with Luna.

….

Mentem and Luna were walking down a hallway with stone walls and it was lit by torches. Their eyes slowly scanned left in right, looking for enemies. They were currently in an ape base during the war against Malefor and they were trying to find and steal their plans.

The wolf stopped her dragon friend however and pointed at a tripwire that he would've stepped on if she hadn't stopped him. He nodded in thanks before they both carefully stepped over the wire and continued on their way.

They two rogues made their way to the end of the hallway and saw a wooden door. Mentem stepped forward and tried to turn the knob, but it wouldn't budge.

"Locked." He whispered quietly in frustration, making her friend smile.

"Let me do it." Luna whispered as she gently pushed him aside and took out a lockpick.

The fear dragon watched with interest as she inserted the pick into the lock and skillfully rotated it. It didn't take long before they heard a click and she opened the door.

"Works every time." the wolf said playfully before she stepped aside so he could enter.

Mentem smirked at her before he cautiously entered the room. He spotted tow guards up ahead with their backs to him and he quickly hid behind the doorframe. He held up two claws and Luna nodded, understanding what he meant by that.

As if reading each other's minds, they quickly and quietly ran out of the doorframe and hid behind a pillar. Mentem ran out again and silently charged towards the guard to the left. He heard a thwack from Luna's crossbow and the ape on the right fell to the ground with an arrow in his neck. The remaining guard was too distracted with his comrade's death to notice the fear dragon before it was too late. He tackled the ape to the ground and quickly slit his through with his tailblade.

"Not bad, dragon boy." Luna praised with a chuckle as she reloaded her crossbow and Mentem stood up.

"Thanks, Miss Wolfy." the fear dragon joked with a laugh as well, but he kept it quiet so no one outside of the room could hear them.

He felt like they were the perfect pair for stealth missions. They understood each other's mentalities and easily followed each other's body movements. They also watched out for each other and made sure nothing bad happened to them.

"We'd best find those plans and get outta here." Luna suggested and her dragon friend nodded in agreement and they continued on their way to the next room.

…..

Mentem sat under a tree in Tall Plains and smiled at the memory. He recalled that they were able to find the plans and successfully made it back to Warfang. This was how their carreers got started and they always made sure to watch out for each other. They vowed to one another that they would never let anything bad happen to one another and he aimed to keep that vow.

The fear dragon's smile turned into a determined frown and he slowly stood up with his head down. He took a deep breath before he began to walk towards Fort Shinigami to rescue Luna.

...

This was Hunter's first time performing missions that were unknown to the Council. Hunter had always been loyal to The Empire…always attempting to do things by the book, but never let that blind him to see alternatives, which The Guardians commended him for.

But now, this mission was personal.

A few days ago, he learned of how his former partner, Luna, had been captured by the Forsworn. He heard that Spyro, Cynder and the rest of their group was in Tasangot, which was the same place he was in at the time. He was going to meet with his two friends but noticed how one of their group, the Fear dragon named Mentem, who was Luna's current partner, went off on his own to search for Luna. Hunter decided to follow Mentem closely, and when he learned of where Luna was being held captive at, he travelled to Fort Shinigami himself.

The Cheetah stood at the edge of the forest before the forest parted to reveal The Fort that Luna was being held in. He saw multiple guard towers near the walls, in the towers stood Atlawa with crossbows. Hunter continued to survey the wall…sure enough scaling the wall would take to long…he also had to make sure he didn't kill any of the guards, since if a fellow patrolmen didn't report in at a designated time, then the Fort would be placed on immediate high alert.

Yes, it was indeed never easy…especially for an Emissary such as Hunter. But he knew that with Luna's life on the line, there was no time to complain.

Hunter quickly scaled a larger tree which, luckily, was taller than the wall surrounding the fort. When he reached a limb that was high enough, Hunter quickly reached into his bag, and pulled out a strong dark rope, which could be hard to see from a distance for someone patrolling at night. The Cheetah tied one end of the robe to the tree, and then the other to one of his arrows.

Hunter slowly notched his arrow, took aim for the wall of the fort, close to a window, and released the arrow, sending it flying through the air. Hunter silently hoped the robe he chose was long enough…seconds later, the rope had fully tightened. He sighed in relief and slowly placed his bow on top of the rope, while he gripped both sides of his bow, and quickly slid down the rope.

For several seconds, he felt the wind brush passed his fur as he drew closer to the wall. When he was within a few feet of hitting the wall, Hunter let go of one side of the bow, and latched his claws to the ledge of the window, Hunter quickly opened the window, quietly, and climbed through.

When he had entered the window, he quickly shut it and surveyed the room he had entered…which turned out to be a chapel of some kind…

The Chapel was a square room, with several pews. Hunter quickly moved away from the window, and darted for a pillar, and peered around, and took in more of the chapel…

The Alter at the head of the room rested behind a statue…or a dragon. But this Statue was unlike that of the ones of Malefor that used to decorate Temple training halls. This one was different…the Dragon appeared more muscular…and more frightening. Hunter slowly approached the Alter and the statue…and looked at a small engraving at the foot of the statue.

The engraving said: _Behold; the first God. _

Hunter tilted his head lightly, curious about the faith that The Forsworn believed…

However, his curiosity was interrupted when he heard the door to the chapel open…Hunter quickly darted for a pillar, and hid behind it. He heard the sound of the door shut, and the sound of a dragon's footsteps sound from the center of the chapel.

Hunter timed his movement's right, and moved from pillar to pillar as quiet as he could. As he approached the door, he peered around the pillar…and saw the dragon that had entered…Hunter's eyes widened, recognizing the Dragon's grey scales…It was Oculos, the "Dragon of Death".

Hunter noticed the Second in command of The Forsworn place his hand over his chest, and bowed his head lightly.

The Cheetah didn't take any chances, and quickly and quietly left the chapel. However, as Hunter left the chapel, while Oculos still had has head bowed, Oculos slowly smirked.

…..

Hunter continued to make his way through the halls of the fort…From what the cheetah had learned from his investigation before arriving at the Fort, was that the prison cells were located in the lower section of the Fort, where the temperature was very cold…perfect place to put prisoners.

Finding the staircase to the lower levels was not difficult; surprisingly there were no guards…which added to Hunter's worry. But Hunter decided not to worry about the details at the moment, but he remained on guard.

When he reached the bottom of the staircase, Hunter reached for his bow and notched and arrow. He approached a door which would lead into the prison block.

Deciding now was a good time to enter high profile, Hunter quickly kicked the wooden door down. When he did so, he saw two Forsworn guards, both Atlawan, before the Atlawas could react, the two already had arrows lodged into their heads. Hunter quickly darted through the long dark hallway of the prison cells, which was light with lanterns…but just barely provided light.

While he ran through the Prison block…he reluctantly looked at the cells…and saw the dead bodies of Atlawas…Dragons…Wolves…Moles…and countless others. Hunter noticed how the bodies were either malnourished or looked as though they had taken their own lives…

Hunter only hoped that Luna wouldn't be that desperate to commit to killing herself…but what if she had dropped that low mentally? What if she couldn't handle the torture?

Hunter shook his head, refusing to believe that Luna would do such a thing to herself…

After five minutes of running through a seemingly endless cell block, Hunter immediately found himself entering a large circular open room. Something about the dark room made the fur on the back of Hunter's neck stand...he felt as though there was someone…or something looking at him.

He slowly walked forward, not releasing the tension on the bow, ready to kill whatever enemy he saw.

As he approached the middle of the room, that's when it happened…, he heard the sound of metal clicking against each other. Hunter spun around and raised his bow…and saw several undead soldiers approaching him…the undead were similar to the undead found in Dante's Freezer. Hunter released an arrow, the arrow whistled through the air, and struck an undead in the head, which flew through it's head and pinned another. The two zombie like creatures fell onto the ground, but the two were soon easily replaced.

For several minutes, Hunter attempted to kill the entire undead, but to no avail. They kept replacing each other and to top it all off, he was running low on arrows. Eventually, the Cheetah had only one left and by now he was surrounded.

Hunter quickly took aim at all of the undead, trying to find any target that could help him…that was until he found it.

Up above him…he noticed a giant torch holder…Which looked as though it would hold oil in it and, to his luck, the torch was being supported by a rope…if Hunter was lucky, and if his arrow was sharp enough, he could make the oil fall all over the platform…then he would need to spark it. The Undead were weak to fire, he'd have to make his aim count though…with only one arrow left, and the odds were not in his favor.

Hunter quickly jumped over several undead, and took aim at the rope…and sent the arrow flying into the air, and struck the rope. Hunter heard the cutting of the rope…but the torch didn't fall…Hunter felt dread run through his body…he hadn't cut it all of the way…he was about to be overcome by the countless undead…until he heard a loud SNAP. Hunter looked up in time to see the giant torch crash to the ground, crushing countless undead and spilling oil over the ground and many of the undead.

Hunter smirked and quickly jumped over several staggering undead and moved towards the opposite end of the room, grabbed a two pieces of flint, and struck them together…a small spark flew across the room, and made contact with the oil. Suddenly, the center of the room became a fiery inferno.

The Undead let out shrieks of agony as the fire burned them, and as the ones who weren't on fire made contact with the undead that were on fire…basically it was a domino effect of sorts.

Hunter sighed in relief when the last of the undead were reduced to nothing but ashes…Hunter slowly sat on the ground and took a deep sigh of relief…but then coughed lightly, disgusted by the stench the undead left.

Hunter stood up, and quickly moved onwards…but not before saying. "I hate those things…"

...

Mentem was now inside Fort Shinigami and he was staying hidden behind a doorway. He was able to sneak past the guards outside and he was only two rooms into the fort. He assumed that he was currently in a kitchen and he was trying to find a staircase that would lead to the dungeons.

There was also an Atlawan guard who was standing by the exit and the fear dragon was patiently waiting for him to move. They had both been there for a whole five minutes now and the dragon was stating to get angry because he wasn't making any progress at all because of this one guard.

'Hurry up you lazy bastard! Move!' he screamed in his head as he glared at the unmoving Forsworn.

Mentem finally got sick and tired of waiting and looked around the area. He spotted a beer bottle on the table and silently wrapped the end of his tail around it and picked it up. He then through the bottle across the room and it shattered around the closet area.

"Huh?" the Atlawan was brought out of his train of thought and he unsheathed he longsword.

The hat wearing dragon watched with a twitching eye as the guard walked away and he quickly dashed for the exit. He was in luck because the next room had a staircase leading downwards. He returned to his usual low stance to reduce the sounds of his footsteps and he started to walk down the wooden steps.

The fear dragon eventually reached the bottom of the steps and he was now in a hallway with a bunch of cells to the side. Each one had the corpse of a prisoner in them and the dragon silently gagged from the intense smell. He felt pity for all of them, but he had to move on to find Luna. He took a deep breath to hold his breath and he quickly walked town the empty hallway.

Mentem eventually encountered a wooden door that was locked when he tried to open it. He frowned heavily in frustration and he bent down. He locked through the lock to see what was in the newt room and he spotted a cheetah walking up to a cell with a wolf in it.

Thinking that the wolf was Luna and that the cheetah was trying to hurt her, the fear dragon backed up a few steps before he charged towards the door. The wooden door smashed open and practically fell off its hinges from the attack and Mentem glared at the cheetah who had stopped to see who caused the noise.

"Get away from Luna!" Mentem shouted as he adopted a combat stance, willing to fight the cheetah who he believed to be part of the Forsworn.

"Wait, I am a friend." The cheetah assured with a raised paw, trying to sooth the enraged dragon.

"And how can I believe you?" the fear dragon demanded, but was willing to give the feline a chance to speak at least.

"My name is Hunter and I've come to save Luna, much like yourself." The cheetah answered with confidence in his voice.

…

Somewhere in another Realm that most did not know about, there was a floating island in the middle of a black voice with red lightning booming in the distance. The floating island possessed a gothic looking castle with a forest of dead trees surrounding it.

Inside the castle, there was a throne room that was guarded by armored skeletons with glowing blue eye sockets. There was also a robed figure with glowing green eyes sitting on the throne. Not many details could be seen on him because of the light, but he was holding a crystal ball and he was also staring into is.

"Mortals are so… interesting…" the dark figure commented as the crystal ball showed Mentem and Hunter staring at one another in Fort Shinigami.

The crystal ball then showed Spyro walking with his friends and the dark figure chuckled evily.

"Don't worry, Spyro. We'll get to play soon." the robed figure spoke with a dark laugh that echoed throughout the room.

...

**A/N: The mysterious Character at the end is a character created by Native Avenger. But other than me saying that he will be appearing again very soon, I will not say anything else. My lips are sealed :)**


	11. Chapter 10: Fort Shinigami assault

**Chapter 10: Assault on Fort Shinigami**

**...**

**Warfang: Pool of Visions Resting Chamber**

Cecil ran his index talon across the brailed contents of the letter. Which was sent from Hera, the leader of the Empire's Medical Corps who was stationed in Tasangot, one of the independent city's of The Dragon Realms. She had just sent a hawk that had delivered the letter. The Messenger corps received the letter, and delivered the letter to Cecil, whom was in the middle of a meditation. Cecil had thanked the messenger, and began to "Read" the brail on the letter.

To say that he was shocked and furious at what he'd read…would be an understatement. In the letter, he learned that Tasangot's leading Politician, a dragon by the name of Mendax, had aligned himself with The Forsworn.

He had allowed The Forsworn to release a plague within Tasangot, which was now ravaging the city. As soon as he reached the part of the letter regarding the politician's history…it was revealed his personality type was the exact type The Forsworn loved to use for their attempts to control the politics of governments. He felt disgusted about the dragon's personality.

Cecil heard the door to the Pool of Vision's resting chamber open. He recognized the footsteps of Typhoon.

"Lord Cecil…" The Water guardian said. "The meeting is about to start."

Cecil nodded his head and looked in the Water Guardian's general direction.

"Typhoon," Cecil said, emotionlessly. "I've received word from Hera…and learned about the cause of the plague in Tasangot…and what I've learned is disturbing…"

"What has the Medical corps discovered?" Typhoon asked curiously.

"The plague was never bacterial…not like the original." Cecil explained…slowly his claws dug into the ground. "It was created…and released by Tasangot's own leading politician…Mendax himself is also aligned with The Forsworn and released the plague."

"What!" Typhoon exclaimed furiously. "You mean he put all of the people in Tasangot's lives at risk! All for power…"

Cecil nodded. "There are those who believe it is their 'birth right' to have all of the power in the world…and that the lives of others are only prices to be paid…unfortunately, that is not how life works…lives are irreplaceable…they are each a story book…each one uniquely written…how many lives have people like Malefor and Mendax killed? How many stories have the burned?"

Typhoon nodded.

"What do you suggest we do?" Typhoon asked.

Cecil closed his eyes. "We wait until the plague is cured…and then we make our move, and reveal to the people of Tasangot of their leader's treachery. Until then…we wait."

Typhoon nodded. "I'll inform the others." Cecil nodded as Typhoon left the room.

Slowly, Cecil rubbed his temples…but soon felt surge run through his entire body. Cecil suddenly gasped as his eyes widened, and his misty irises and pupils began to glow gold…he was having a vision of the future.

Through a flash of images, the young prophet of Spectra saw a world…a world of darkness, red lightning flashed through the sky, and the undead guarded the halls of a temple. He saw the silhouette of a figure in the distance, holding a crystal ball. Cecil saw a pair of glowing eyes stare straight at Cecil…but soon the vision ended, and another took it's place.

Cecil saw Mendax walking through the hallways of a building, his eyes were furious as the overweight dragon walked through the halls. Soon, the vision flew past Mendax…and now Cecil saw Persephone and Oculos, sitting in a dining hall, seemingly waiting for Mendax. Cecil noticed that when Mendax entered the room, Persephone looked to Oculos, and slightly nodded.

The vision then ended.

Cecil gasped lightly when the vision ended. Slowly, he rubbed his temples lightly.

Cecil's eyes opened…he didn't understand the visions…but he knew Persephone had plans for the disgusting politician…and whatever she had planned…Mendax would not like it.

…

**Fort Shinigami:**

Hunter pulled out his knife, and cut Luna's bounds. As he lowered the wolf girl to the ground, he heard Luna begin to mutter something in her people's language with her eyes still closed…she was still unconscious…and judging on her tone, she was trying to calm herself.

Mentem kneeled next to the cheetah and Luna. He heard what Luna's words…but he couldn't translate all of them.

"What's she saying?" Mentem asked. Hunter looked to the fear dragon.

"It's a prayer…" Hunter said. He began to translate what she was saying. "The Goddess loves her creations…protects them, looks after them…gives them strength…gives them hope…even in the darkest night…she is our light…when we go into the eternal sleep…she awaits our arrival…and sings to us when our spirits reunite with her…"

Mentem turned his head away lightly. Feeling slightly annoyed at hearing about "The Goddess."

Hunter noticed this.

"You know her belief in The Goddess is the reason she's survived this long…" Hunter commented. "Whether she is real or not, Luna's faith kept her alive."

"Yeah, sure." Mentem muttered.

Hunter shook his head lightly, and pulled out a rag and rubbed it over Luna's cheeks, rubbing off paint markings across Luna's cheeks…most likely the markings were placed there over her cheeks by Forsworn grunts as a stereotypical insult to Luna's people and race…which disgusted both Hunter and Mentem that The Forsworn would insult Luna like that.

Suddenly, Luna's eyes began to open…for a brief second, she looked up at Mentem and Hunter blankly…her eyes adjusting. When they had fully adjusted, Luna looked at the two in fear. She suddenly let out a growl and raised her left paw up, engaging her claws and was ready to attack her saviors. Hunter quickly grabbed her paw. Luna began to squirm in his grip.

"Luna!" Hunter hissed, trying to calm Luna.

"Luna it's us…" Mentem said as quiet as he could.

"No! NO!" Luna screamed. She then screamed something in the wolf language.

Hunter quickly grabbed both sides of Luna's face and stared at her dead in the eyes.

"LUNA!" Hunter yelled.

Suddenly, Luna began to stop squirming, and began to relax. She slowly looked at Hunter and Mentem and began to recognize them…

She stared at Hunter and sighed. "Oh great…it's you…Hunter."

Hunter smiled lightly.

"Pleasure as always Luna," Hunter said.

Luna merely smiled lightly and, to Mentem's surprise, pressed her lips to Hunter's cheek. Luna then looked to Mentem, and smiled lightly.

"Hey…partner…" Luna said. Mentem smiled lightly.

"Hey Luna…you alright?" Mentem asked.

Luna nodded.

"Have had better weeks…damn Forsworn grunts have done a lot to me…including doing things I'd much rather not talk about…" Luna said, her fist clinched, she then muttered. "Damn perverts…they're dead the next time I see them…"

Hunter slowly placed one arm around her, and helped her stand.

"Luna, I know you've just gotten free, but now is not the time to rest…nor are we safe yet." Hunter said, urgency in his voice. "We have to get you out of her."

"Oh," Luna began, Mentem knew she was about to say something in a smart aleck tone… "You are always the observer Hunter. Did you just figure that out?"

Hunter rolled his eyes lightly while smiling…she had just been freed from being tortured…and was now throwing fun little insults around…she never changed.

Hunter slowly reached for something strapped to his back. He then pulled out a crossbow and bolts; the craft of the crossbow was the same as the ones her tribe used. Luna smiled and took the crossbow.

"Thank you," She said.

Hunter looked to Mentem.

"I'll support Luna, can you take point?" Hunter asked.

Mentem nodded. "All over it." The Fear dragon said, confidently.

Slowly, the two began to walk out of the cell. Mentem was crouched down in a combat stance while he walked forward, ready to attack any Forsworn nearby.

As the group walked forward, Luna noticed the corpses in the cells…and felt saddened and disgusted that The Forsworn didn't have enough respect for the dead to even give them a proper burial…disgracing the dead, in her tribe, was a crime that her people did not take lightly.

The group began to exit the cellblock, exiting through a different area that Mentem and Hunter had not come through.

As the group walked through the dimly lit halls, now exiting the prison block, Hunter spoke up. "Be careful, there may be undead in these halls…I encountered several through the way I came in."

"No wonder you smell pleasant…" Luna muttered. Hunter shook his head lightly; Mentem couldn't help but laugh lightly at the small quip.

The group soon came to a large entrance that had a locking mechanism…which included tuning forks.

"I could use my siren scream to activate the tuning forks." Mentem said. Hunter nodded.

"Do it…" Hunter said.

Mentem took a deep breath, and let out two quick siren blasts, which sure enough activated the forks and began spinning. Soon, the giant wooden door slid upward, and opened for the group to enter. The group walked forward into the next chamber…and they seemed to enter an underground stadium…with rows and rows of stone seats in the stands, and at the opposite end of the arena, in the stands was a throne.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Hunter mutters.

"You always have a bad feeling, Hunter." Luna said.

As the two approached the center of the arena…the torches in the stands suddenly lit up. Mentem tensed and crouched into a defensive stance, Hunter quickly drew his knife while still holding onto Luna.

Soon, Forsworn warriors began to appear in the stands and through other gateways similar to the one the group had come in from. Mentem silently swore, realizing that they had walked right into a trap…

Soon, the group saw a grey dragon appear next to the throne at the head of the stands.

It was Oculos.

Oculos stared down at the three and tilted his head lightly.

"Well…it seems you've freed your ally." Oculos called out from the stands. "However…you weren't who we were expecting, Mentem."

Mentem glared up at the grey dragon.

"So," Oculos said. "You felt the need to leave your friends and attempt to save your partner? How noble, I will admit…but very very foolish."

"I don't need their help…" Mentem said.

Oculos shook his head. "And yet…here you are. Standing in the middle of a trap. Don't even attempt to fight back; I have archers ready to shoot you all where you stand by just a single snap of my fingers." Oculos said, holding up his left paw, to literate his threat. Mentem noticed Oculos stare at him with pity in his unnatural yellow eyes. "I actually pity you…Mentem. You never had the chance to tell Tula you were sorry, didn't you?"

Mentem tensed. Luna looked at Mentem curiously, not knowing about what had happened at Warfang days ago.

"Your own father has abandoned you, Mentem." Oculos said. "Personally, I can't really blame him for what you did; after all…you hurt his last surviving daughter…and his actual only child."

Mentem glared up at the death dragon, whose eyes remained calm, and filled with pity.

"I'm afraid this is where your road ends, all three of you. Lady Persephone ordered me that if Spyro didn't show…then I would have to kill the friends who came without him…" Oculos said. "I am truly sorry…"

The Archers put tension on their bows and aimed for the group.

The three tensed and were ready for anything. But right as Oculos snapped his talons, an explosion came from the stands. Everyone in the arena turned to the smoke that had kicked up.

From the stands, two dragonesses beat down several Forsworn dragons, and began to engage the other Forsworn in the stands. Mentem, Hunter and Luna recognized the black dragoness and the yellow dragoness.

"Cynder? Electra?" Mentem said, shocked.

Cynder quickly jumped into the air and flew above Mentem, Hunter and Luna, and blew out shadow flames at the stands, The Forsworn attempted to evade the oncoming black and purple flames, but some were not so lucky.

Electra blew an electric stream at several wolves and cheetahs, the electric stream connected from one Forsworn to another, electrifying her enemies until they dropped to the ground dead.

Soon, more explosions could be heard in the stands. Electra and Cynder were soon joined by Spyro, Blaze, Soturi, Mori and Hera respectively.

Oculos watched from the stands as the group engaged his subordinates. He felt amused really, seeing the unlikely group working together.

Luna suddenly let out a cry in agony, clutching her chest when she felt her heart throb.

"Luna!" Mentem and Hunter called out as Luna began to collapse to the ground.

Suddenly, the poison dragoness Hera flew towards the group after dosing several Forsworn with burning acid like poison. She landed next to the group. Mentem recognized the dragoness as a medic and stepped out of her way as she ordered Hunter to lay Luna on the ground. Hera placed her paw over Luna chest.

"She's been poisoned…" Hera announced to the others, she looked to Hunter. "Watch my back, you, Mentem I believe, cover us from the air!"

Mentem nodded and took to the air, and joined Cynder.

Hunter readily prepared to attack the oncoming Forsworn, but before they could, he heard a roar from the air; he looked up to see, to his surprise and shock, a gargoyle land in between him and the oncoming Forsworn. The young Gargoyle's bat like wings extended as he drew his hatchet and charged at the Forsworn and began to decimate them. Hunter turned to see Spyro fighting several Forsworn dragons in the stands, and merely smiled.

"You never cease to amaze me, Spyro." Hunter said, amazed that he had a gargoyle in his group.

Oculos watched as Blaze incinerated several Forsworn with a low powered fire fury, and began to kill The Forsworn close by with his fiery claws.

Oculos slowly turned and began to walk out of the stadium…but stopped when he heard two dragons land behind him.

"Stop!" Oculos heard Cynder's voice call out. Oculos turned and saw Spyro and Cynder, in combat stances, ready to fight him.

Oculos shook his head lightly. "I don't want to fight you two…but if you insist on fighting me…" Slowly, Oculos' eyes glowed yellow. "Then I will show you the reason why I am called, the Dragon of Death."

Spyro and Cynder lunged forward, but before they could strike the grey dragon, the part of the stands that the two of them stood suddenly started to crumble, and the two fell to the arena bellow. Spyro and Cynder staggered to their feet as they looked up to see Oculos standing right where the part of the stands had almost fallen apart. Oculos smirked lightly, his eyes glowing again. Spyro quickly blew out a fire ball at Oculos, but the fire ball struck a piece of falling debris that just so happened to have fallen in between the fire ball and Oculos.

Oculos then dropped down to the arena, and began to engage the two in combat.

Oculos merely blocked the two younger dragon's blows skillfully. No matter how fast the two tried to strike at him, he would simply parry the blows. Plus, with debris from the ceiling falling towards the three, it made fighting Oculos slightly more difficult.

Spyro was beginning to feel irritated that not a single one of his, or even Cynder's, attacks were making contact with Oculos…and that it seemed as luck was seemingly always on Oculos' side, since none of the debris that were dropping from the ceiling were not hindering his attacks…it almost seemed intentional actually.

Spyro fired a jet of scolding hot water at Oculos…and once again, it was blocked…a Forsworn Fire dragon attempted to blast Blaze with a fire ball, however it missed, and hit the ground in front of Oculos, causing several pieces of rock to take the blast. Oculos smirked lightly, seeing how the two dragons were already growing tired.

Oculos slowly rubbed his eyes lightly and looked back at the two.

"Is that the best you can do?" He asked.

Spyro gritted his teeth and stood up. Oculos smirked again, his eyes glowing.

"Behold my power." Oculos said.

Suddenly, Spyro felt his chest tense…and begin to burn.

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled out for her mate, and attempted to charge at Oculos, only for Cynder to collapse to her knees, feeling the intense burning in her chest as well.

Oculos slowly stepped up to the two dragons.

"You still don't get it? Do you?" Oculos asked. "I'm not called the dragon of death for no reason…right now, your body is not receiving very much oxygen from your heart…you are literally at my mercy." Oculos leaned forward to the struggling purple dragon. "I told you before, I don't want to kill you…but my loyalty is to Persephone, and he wish is if I can't persuade you to join our cause, then I would have to kill you."

"I…" Spyro struggled to say. "Will…not join…YOU! OR PERSEPHONE!"

Oculos sighed. "I expected much…you can't live with the fact that you'd be betraying your own grandmother…I understand, but unfortunately…it is not enough for me to stop." Oculos said. "I promised Persephone I would finish the job, and that is something I intend to keep."

"You're so loyal…" Cynder yelled, Oculos' attention turned to Malefor's former slave. "But would Persephone do the same for you! I know all about her history! Promising people power! Promising to make the world a better place! In the end…her 'followers' are found in a sewer, dead! What makes you think she won't stab you in the back and leave you for dead!"

Oculos chuckled lightly.

"Believe me Cynder, I understand what you're saying…after all, you served Malefor before. I'm aware of what happened to other servants who Persephone deemed unworthy…but I will say this," Oculos leaned forward to Cynder. "They did not have the will to continue their work, I, however, will not abandon Persephone…whether she views my usefulness is no longer needed…I will accept that."

"You think you know everything!" Cynder retorted. "What makes you think Persephone's completely in control!"

Oculos eyes Cynder with annoyance, and suddenly, Cynder cried out in agony.

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled out. "Stop! Leave her alone!"

Oculos ignored the purple dragon, and intensified his power over Cynder. Soon, Cynder began to cough blood.

"STOP!" Spyro roared.

Suddenly, he heard her…Spectra's song. Spyro quickly summoned up the strength, and raised his paw, and slammed it on the jewel of his necklace. Suddenly, a golden flash surrounded Spyro. Oculos stopped using his power on Cynder, and turned to see Spyro in his golden armor…but was no longer under Oculos' power.

_'Impossible!' _Oculos thought shocked. He tried to use his power on the purple dragon…but when he attempted to instantly kill Spyro with his power…he felt as though he hit a brick wall…but in his mind…he saw a pair of eyes, which glowed various colors, staring back at him.

Oculos gritted his teeth, feeling blood role down the side of his mouth.

_'That armor…it's...The Goddess is protecting him!' _Oculos thought in shock.

Unbeknownst to Oculos, while he was shocked and focused on Spyro, he lost focus on Cynder, who was now standing up, she slammed her paw on the jewel of her necklace, and summoned her armor in a silver flash.

Oculos spun around in time to just barely miss a blow from Cynder's scythe tail blade. Cynder now stood next to Oculos. The two adopted combat stances and were ready to attack the death dragon. Oculos glared at the two of them, his eyes glowed again. But, Spyro finally deduced Oculos' powers…and how every time something happened, such as the debris taking the blows for Oculos, it happened when Oculos' eyes glowed…to the surprise of both Oculos and Cynder, Spyro blew out a whirlwind of sand from his mouth.

Suddenly, Oculos was blinded by Spyro's sand breath, Oculos shielded his eyes. But Cynder took advantage of the moment, and struck Oculos across the chest, and finished her combo with kick to Oculos' chest. Oculos staggered, his eyes opened, he attempted to use his power, however, Spyro appeared before him and kicked the dragon in the jaw, and then breathed an earth shot at Oculos, which the force of the shot sent the dragon flying across the arena...and landed on the ground with a thump.

Oculos stood up and glared at the two dragons. The two dragons were ready for whatever he threw at them. He knew that the two had deduced the weaknesses and strengths of his power…he was aware this was a fight he couldn't win…meaning it was time to retreat.

Suddenly, his eyes began to glow a strong unnatural yellow aura, stronger than before.

"This!" Oculos began. "Is not over!"

Suddenly, Spyro and Cynder began to feel the entire arena…no…FORTRESS shake! The group turned to see their allies calling them to follow them, but before they left, they turned to where Oculos once stood…and no longer saw him…he had vanished without a trace. Knowing now was not the time to wonder, the two quickly followed their friends as they all quickly escaped the fortress that was, literally, falling apart around them.

…

The group quickly escaped through the main hall and through the main gate…as they got out of the fortress, the entire fortress, and cliff side, began to fall into the sea hundreds of feet below. Spyro quickly grabbed onto Hunter's shoulders while Mentem grabbed onto Luna took to the air, along with the others.

When they were out of the radius of where the fortress collapsed…the group looked at the destruction that was caused…about a half a mile of land was destroyed…from just Oculos' unnatural power.

Spyro and the others landed…and breathed in relief.

"Wow…" Mori commented, the earth dragoness looked at her friends. "You guys see some weird stuff…"

Spyro smiled lightly and nodded. Spyro noticed Mentem walking up to Hera, who was looking over Luna, whom was unconscious.

"How is she?" Mentem asked.

The poison dragoness looked at the hat wearing dragon.

"She will be fine, but I need to develop an anti toxin to properly heal her." Hera said. Mentem nodded, and looked to Spyro, who nodded in agreement.

"Come on…" Spyro said. "Let's set up camp…"

**A/N: And so Luna's been rescued! The group's back together again...but tensions still exist.**

**Also, the reason Oculos was unable to kill Spyro and Cynder directly with his power, was due to the Spectral Ore that Spyro and Cynder's armors are made of. The ore, as the name suggests, is connected to The Goddess. Meaning when Oculos attempted to kill Spyro with his powers, The Goddess protected her grandchild through the armor, along with Cynder. However the armor doesn't protect the two from all of Oculos' powers. So Oculos is still a threat, meaning Spyro and the others must battle Oculos with vigilance.  
**


	12. Chapter 11: Breaking Point

**Chapter 11: The Breaking Point**

...

A few hours have passed since Fort Shinigami was destroyed by Oculos. The group had set up a camp in the jungles outside of Tasangot and Spyro was using his fire breath to start a fire. The group sat down around the crackling fire and started talking to pass the time.

"Well, that went better than I expected." Cynder commented as she helped Hera gently lay Luna on a pile of soft leaves that Soturi placed for them.

"Can you heal her, doc?" Mentem asked with a concerned expression as he looked at his fallen companion.

"Yeah, I can heal her. I just need to go vampire and suck the poison out of her." The poison dragoness answered cheerfully, trying to make light out of the situation.

No one laughed at her joke and she rolled her eyes at them. She bent over the unconscious wolf.

"Can someone hold her steady in case she wakes up?" Hera requested as she quickly glanced at the group.

Mori stepped forward and held Luna's arms down while Cynder pinned her feet. Once they believed that the wolf was secured, Hera carefully bit into her neck and commenced to suck the poison out of her system. Because she was a poison dragoness, the poison wouldn't hurt Hera and she was able to successfully extract the deadly chemicals without waking Luna. She peacefully woke up a few moments and she groggily looked up at the dragoness above her.

"All done!" the poison said cheerfully once she pulled away and she adjusted her glasses over her eyes. "I healed you." She told the wolf once she saw her confused expression.

Almost everyone in the group sighed in relief and visibly relaxed. They were happy that their friend was okay and the healer began explaining what happened earlier at Fort Shinigami. As the two girls talked, everyone else looked over at the hat wearing fear dragon.

"You shouldn't have gone out by yourself, Mentem. You could've gotten yourself killed." Spyro scolded with a disapproving frown. "But I'm happy that you were able to save Luna with Hunter's help." he quickly added with a smile.

"At least he didn't push Luna into the fire… like he did to Tula." Blaze commented spitefully as he glared at the robed fear dragon, gaining everyone's attention.

"Huh… what is Blaze talking about?" Luna asked as she looked over at the two tense males.

"Well, Mentem, Spes and I were protesting in Warfang while you were gone and Mentem accidently hurt Tula. She's okay though, don't worry. It was all just an accident." Electra explained to the very confused wolf.

"Accident or not, it shouldn't have happened. Mentem was being a reckless fool." Blaze spat with anger in his voice, earning a hateful glare from the fear dragon.

"It was a damn accident, you thick skulled pest. I admit that it was my fault and I shouldn't have pushed her, but I've said I was sorry. I don't need everyone scolding me every chance they get, especially from a punk like you." Mentem replied, trying his best to remain calm.

"Shut up!" the fire dragon yelled angrily as he bolted up. "Even Typhoon hates you! Everyone hates you! We could've rescued Luna without you! You have no place here! I refuse to allow you to hurt Tula again and MY friends!" he screamed as he trembled with rage.

"You think Tula loves you?" Mentem asked all of a sudden as he slowly stood up. "I've known her longer than you have; she's practically my little sister… I've seen the way you look at her. Let me tell you this; she doesn't love you," the hat wearing dragon told the Blaze with hate in his voice.

Everyone was shocked by these words because they all knew that Blaze had a crush on Tula. They all looked over at the fire dragon to see him trembling even more and the veins behind his scales could easily be seen.

"Typhoon would never allow a dragon like you near his last daughter. He probably trusts me around her more than he trusts you and your stupid temper. You either need to get some mental help or stay the fuck away from my family." the fear dragon continued with a death glare.

Blaze roared loudly all of a sudden before he tackled Mentem to the ground. The hat wearing dragon easily kicked him away however and they both glared at one another as they stood up. They were about to charge at each other again, but Soturi quickly stood in between them.

"Stop." The gargoyle ordered calmly. "Save your rage for the enemy." he told them both.

"NO!" Blaze boomed as he leapt forward, but the gargoyle grabbed him from the air and pinned him to the ground, greatly surprising everyone.

"I said stop." Soturi hissed with his fangs barred.

The Fire dragon exhaled some black smoke and tried to struggle out of the stronger gargoyle's grip, but he was knocked out by a single punch from Soturi. Once Blaze was out cold, the gargoyle placed him on another pile of leaves and walked over to Mentem.

"Don't fight your allies. It doesn't matter if you don't like them or not. I… understand that you were defending yourself and you were angry, but please try to be more careful." Soturi requested calmly.

The hat wearing dragon was too stunned by what just happened to argue and he nodded. The tall gargoyle nodded back before he sat down. Mentem thought for a moment before he sat down next to Soturi. The others were shocked by what just happened too, but they decided not to say anything about it for the time being and they all looked at the crackling fire.

About half an hour passed by before the group decided to go to sleep. It didn't take long for them all to doze off, but Mentem stayed awake. He had too much on his mind to sleep and he simply didn't feel like resting.

The hat wearing fear dragon heard the sound of movement however and he saw Blaze stand up, apparently recovered from the hit he endured earlier. He watched the fire dragon leave the camp and he contemplated what he should do. He could either let Blaze leave or follow him.

After much thought and self debating, he decided to follow the fire dragon. Mentem sighed quietly as he stood up and followed Blaze into the dark jungle.

...

"Stupid, hat-wearing fear dragon…" Blaze muttered under his breath. Dark smoke rolling out of his mouth as he stepped through the dark forest with each step he took, his paws burned the grass underneath him.

"Fuck him…fuck him!" Blaze said angrily as he approached a cliff side…suddenly, fire began to radiate off of his scales. "FUCK HIM!"

Suddenly, the flames began to intensify, hot tears streamed out of his eyes, suddenly the flames flew out in every direction, creating a quiet explosion, but a bright flash in the night. When the flames died down, and the fury cloak dissipated, Blaze collapsed to the ground. Blaze then let out a roar mixed with anger and sadness…anger; that the fear dragon yelled at _him_ and said those things that Tula didn't care about him…Sadness; because he believed Mentem's words…what if the water dragoness he'd always cared about, the same dragoness who was always kind to him, didn't have the same feelings he felt towards her?

Blaze dug his claws into the ground and continued to sob.

Ever since the day he first met Tula…he had always held feelings for the kind water dragoness; after all she was the first one to show him kindness. Blaze; when he first came to the Temple of Warfang, he was always an outsider to the other students there. He was occasionally picked on and called names. "No-Breath" "Smokey" "Fury-Boy"…all kind of hurtful names was thrown at him, all because he couldn't breathe his natural element. Also, due to his reputation and his temper and his uncontrolled furies, none of the dragons seemed to accept him.

But it was Tula who changed that. She was the first to approach him, to smile at him with genuine and sincere kindness. After meeting her, he strived to control his temper, that way he could protect her. Eventually, Blaze's circle of inner circle of friends grew. Eventually Electra gained the courage to speak with Blaze…and sure enough during that first conversation and acceptance of her as a friend, she wouldn't stop talking, which was typical of her, then there was the war veteran Spes, though he proble wouldn't openly admit it, became Blaze's friend. Even Mentem, though he wasn't sure of Blaze, well aware of the young fire dragon's abilities, even he accepted Blaze.

Blaze realized his feelings for Tula as his first year at Warfang passed. When he spoke with her at times, he would blush, which he was thankful his red scales helped cover the blush, and he noticed how she was nervous around him…he assumed that nervousness was that she felt the same way towards him…but now he wasn't so sure. What that nervousness was actually out of fear…

By now, all of the rage had been vented from Blaze's system…but it was now replaced with hurt and sorrow…

"Oh Tula…" Blaze murmured. "Why?"

Blaze closed his eyes lightly.

While Blaze was drowning in his self pity, he failed to notice a figure approach in the woods.

The figure was of The Forsworn. He was a black furred wolf, and wore similar robes that most Forsworn assassins wore, black in color with emerald green markings and a silver dragon insignia on the back.

The assassin had a reputation among The Forsworn and within the Dragon Realms…and that reputation was that he followed his orders, right to the letter, no questions asked. He did not care about the religion of The Forsworn, only that he was paid. When it came to assassination…being quiet as the dead was his most famous attribute.

The wolf had been paid handsomely by Persephone to track down the Purple dragon's group. From what he knew, the group had escaped the destruction of the Fort. All he needed to do now was assassinate each and every one in the group…starting with the fire dragon that had just left…the assassin considered what he was about to do as a favor to the sad fire dragon.

After all, the Fire dragon had a broken heart. There is no need to let him keep suffering.

Slowly, the assassin drew his sword and walked up to the seemingly asleep fire dragon…or so he thought.

Blaze immediately heard the sound of footsteps approach him…they weren't dragon's footsteps…but it was bipedal…and then there was the sound of the faint unsheathing of a blade. Blaze kept his eyes closed, and was prepared to attack. When he felt the person was close enough, he lunged forward.

Blaze quickly tackled the assassin and pinned him to the ground and placed his taons around the assassin's throat.

"You've caught me at a very bad mood!" Blaze whispered, angrily.

The assassin said nothing, but suddenly drew a hidden dagger and stabbed it into Blaze's right shoulder. Blaze roared in anger and felt the wolf kick him off and slash Blaze across the chest. Blaze felt the cold steel almost pierce his heart. Blaze quickly tried to let the fury mana build up inside him, but it was growing at a slow pace.

The assassin rammed Blaze to the ground, grabbed him by the throat and threw Blaze into a tree. Blaze smashed into the tree and clutched his wounded chest. Blaze saw the assassin walk up slowly to Blaze, and he saw the assassin reach out, grab Blaze by his throat, and began to slam his fist into Blaze's face. The young fire dragon struggled against the attacker's grip, but the combined pain in his shoulder and chest made resisting difficult.

Blaze continued to absorb more mana…but began to realize he wasn't absorbing ANY…he realized why…the blade of the knife, it was made out of dark gems…right now…the effects of that blade was still active…meaning he had no mana left!

Blaze sighed in defeat when the assassin briefly stopped.

"Just…" Blaze began, tears rolling out of his eyes, not because of the pain he felt, but hurt from thinking Tula didn't care about him. "End it…"

The assassin merely smirked and nodded.

"Good night." The assassin said sadistically. He held his blade up, ready to put the fire dragon out of his misery…Blaze anticipated the blade…seconds later he heard something pierce flesh…but it wasn't the knife stabbing him.

Blaze opened his eyes…and saw the shock in the assassin's eyes as he looked down at his chest, and saw a spear like dragon tail blade impaled through the back of his chest.

Blaze looked behind the assassin, and saw no one other than Mentem.

Mentem pulled his tail blade out of the assassin's chest, and the assassin crumpled to the ground dead, Blaze looked up at the older dragon and leaned up against the tree and stared at the ground blankly, emotion was not present in his eyes.

Metnem looked down at the fire dragon with pity and walked up to Blaze's side, and used his wing to help support Blaze up and Mentem helped Blaze walk. As the two dragons walked through the forest back to the camp, the two were silent, until Blaze said.

"I'm sorry…" Blaze muttered under his breath.

Mentem said nothing at first but then answered. "You're not the only one who's at fault…I'm partially to blame to…after all…I did lie."

Blaze looked up at Mentem, whose eyes were still focused on the camp's direction.

"Tula…" Mentem said quietly. "Thinks the world of you…"

Blaze suddenly felt the sadness wash away…

"You mean…" Blaze said.

"Yeah," Mentem said smiling lightly. "She loves you…just doesn't have the courage to say anything."

"Why?" Blaze asked. "Why lie?"

"Because," Mentem said, looking at Blaze. "Typhoon and I do have concern for her. We are both aware of your feelings for her…and your reputation…what I said a few hours ago, was more out of concern for Tula. I know it was out of line…but combined with how angry and my concern for her…Typhoon and I, even if our relationship is fragile right now, we both hold the same amount of love for Tula…"

Blaze nodded.

"You think Typhoon sent me here because he was afraid I'd…hurt her…" Blaze said.

"Possibly…but he knows that you would never willingly hurt her…" Mentem answered truthfully.

Blaze nodded and sighed.

"I'm sorry for holding it against you for this long…" Blaze apologized. "It's just…when I saw Tula run into the temple, crying, her tail and leg burnt…I just couldn't stand it…seeing her hurt both emotionally and physically…and when I found out it was you…my anger…"

Mentem nodded. "I forgive you…" Mentem said. Blaze smiled lightly and nodded.

As the two continued to walk, Blaze, for the first time since leaving Warfang, no longer felt his anger rise, now that the two had 'buried the hatchet' how Spyro put it…but Blaze noticed how Mentem seemed worried.

"You're worried about Tula?" Blaze asked.

Mentem nodded briefly. "I haven't spoken with her since the protest…this was the first time I've ever hurt her…in any form…what if she doesn't forgive me?"

"Mentem," Blaze said. "Tula loves you as her older brother…you saved her, remember…Tula would never stay angry at you."

Mentem was silent for a few seconds, but responded. "I hope you're right…"

…..

When Mentem and Blaze arrived at the camp, the group had already woken up, and was about to go searching for the two but were relieved when they found out that the two were safe and, much to everyone's relief, that the two had put their anger aside.

Hera gave Blaze some red gems, helping heal his wounds and remove the effects of the dark gem. When everyone was ready, the group began their travel to Tasangot. Hera explained to everyone that before they'd left, she had developed an antidote for the Plague, and that it was ready to be distributed when they left…meaning that by the time they got back, people would be recovering.

But the major issue was this, how to deal with revealing Mendax's affiliations with The Forsworn to the public?

The question rolled through everyone's mind as they eventually came close to the city…when they saw the city in the distance, about a mile away, the group were suddenly stopped when two dragons, both wearing silver armor, landed in front of them. One dragon was a fire dragoness, and the other was an electric dragon.

Mori's eyes widened in surprise and excitement, she nudged Spyro in the shoulder.

"They're from the Paladin Corps!" She whispered excitedly.

Spyro looked in amazement at the dragon…they looked majestic, yet had a frightening appearance should they be engaged in combat. The Dragoness approached Spyro.

"Spyro?" She asked in an emotionless voice.

"Yeah…" Spyro asked, respectfully.

The dragoness and the electric dragon bowed their heads.

"An honor…" They both said.

The fire dragoness slowly held up a scroll and handed it to Spyro.

"While you were gone, Lord Cecil instructed us to perform a special assignment…it is our duty to The Empire, and to Spectra, her children and her prophet to help protect The Goddess' legacy…" The dragoness said. "We revealed Mendax's affiliation to The Forsworn to the public of Tasangot…the citizens threatened to up rise against him and make him pay for the crimes he committed. He has also been discharged from his position on Tasangot's government, plus several other politicians as well…while going through his office, we found that scroll. It's important information that The Guardians and The Prophet must see…"

Cynder walked forward. "What kind of information?"

The dragoness looked at Cynder.

"Information that could help settles the conflicts among the Atlawa and the apes…and why The Forsworn are so interested with The Gargoyle's lands." The Paladin dragoness said.

Spyro and Cynder nodded.

"I'll give this to the council." Spyro said. "Do you need our help in the city?"

The dragoness shook her head. "No…Mendax is under house arrest and will be taken to Warfang for trial in three days, since the politicians in Tasangot who weren't involved with Mendax's plans don't trust some of the guards of the city and believe that Mendax's information would benefit The Empire in our mission to prevent further Forsworn attacks."

Spyro nodded.

"Thanks." Spyro said.

The two paladins bowed their heads.

"May the ancestors watch over you all, and protect you in future battles." The Electric Dragon said, suddenly, the two Paladins flew into the sky…and seemingly vanished.

Spyro looked at the scroll and looked at Cynder.

"Why do I get the feeling it's not going to be this simple?" Cynder asked.

"It never is…" Spyro responded as the group made their way to Tasangot.

...

**Tasangot: unknown building within the city's higher class, Safe-house for Forsworn agents and allies  
**

Persephone had returned to Tall Plains a day after she'd left…upon hearing about what happened at Fort Shinigami, she knew she had to speak with Oculos and also meet with her contact, Mendax, after the events that unfolded after he was taken out of power.

As Persephone walked through the halls of the building that she was meant to meet Mendax at, she saw Oculos standing in the entrance hall…looking at the floor aimlessly. He looked up at Persephone as soon as she entered. He bowed his head lightly…

"Persephone…" Oculos said quietly. "I…was unable to finish Spyro…he and his group escaped."

Persephone, for a few seconds, said nothing. Oculos was almost afraid to look up at his leader…he had never failed her before…he didn't know how she would take this. But, felt her place her paw underneath his chin and slowly he looked up at Persephone…and saw her look at him with sincere concern.

"He and his mate wore the armors forged from Spectral ore." Persephone said softly. "I should've known he would be given the armor, you didn't know it would protect him from your abilities. What happened was my fault. You didn't fail me Oculos."

Oculos wasn't convinced, but he nodded lightly.

Persephone straightened up, and Oculos knew that it was time for them to meet with the fat dragon himself. As the two began to walk through the halls, Persephone went straight to business.

"Have you assembled Orm and the others?" **(1) **She asked. Oculos nodded.

"They arrived a day ago…they wait for you to meet them." Oculos said, but he briefly motioned her to stop and he whispered to her. "But are you sure we can trust them…none of them seem to care about our cause…they each seem to care about what their desires are."

"I understand your concern, Oculos…but when The Empire and The Goddess fall…they will help maintain the new world." Persephone said, assuring her second in command that she was in control. The two began to walk and Persephone said. "And besides, that makes them easier to manipulate."

As the two approached the meeting hall…Persephone and Oculos stopped when they saw a ice dragoness walk out from the kitchens, in one paw was a tray with a pitcher of wine and three wine glasses…most likely for Persephone, Oculos and Mendax when they have their meeting.

Oculos noticed a smirk appear on Persephone's lips. Oculos looked at the Dragoness…and noticed a hint of fear in the dragoness' eyes as she was walking towards the meeting hall…he also noticed bruises on her skin. Oculos realized that the dragoness was one of Mendax's 'personal' maids…Oculos was aware of the fat dragon's sex craved mind.

"What are you thinking?" Oculos asked quietly.

Persephone looked at Oculos and reached into her robe pocket, showing a vial of clear liquid.

"Tell me Oculos, have you ever heard of the play 'The death of King Pegasus'? Which was written four centuries ago." **(2)** Persephone said quietly.

Oculos nodded. "Yes…"

Persephone grinned. "Mendax has served his purpose…and his use is already finished…now it is time to dispose of him…and I plan on making his death…sort of ironic."

"How so?" OCulos asked, rather intrigued.

Persephone laughed lightly and said, darkly. "All he cares in life is wine and beautiful women…I say…it's time he regretted those desires."

...

Mendax was sitting in his seat within the meeting hall. The other politicians were doing their various businesses elsewhere and he was expecting company. He looked up to see one other than Persephone and Oculos walk in with his maid leading them in.

"There you are… the two leaders of the Forsworn. Welcome to my city. Let me take the moment to say that I am the one in charge here and as long as you behave yourselves, you'll do just fine here in Tasangot." the overweight fire dragon told them with a casual tone of voice.

'Is this guy suicidal!?' Oculos asked in his head as his left eye twitched a little.

Deciding not to comment on his words, the two Forsworn leaders sat down across from Mendax and the maid gently placed the drinks on the table. The fat dragon smirked as he used his tail to slap her rear, making her yelp.

"Thanks. Now go to my bedroom and wait for me there." he ordered with a smile as he grabbed one of the glasses with his right forepaw.

The two Forsworn leaders frowned heavily when they saw the maid nod with a heavy blush and sad frown before walking out of the room. Once she was gone, Oculos and Persephone grabbed their drinks as well.

"So, I'm guessing that you two are hear because of what happened recently." the fire dragon started his guests took sips of their drinks.

"Yes. You allowed yourself to be exposed and have been ignoring your other duties for the Forsworn; and those you did follow were poorly executed." Oculos replied with a disapproving frown.

"So I am to blame? Bullshit. You two weren't specific enough with your orders and you should've done more to help me out here in Tasangot. It's your fault that things have gotten this bad." the city mayor stated before he took a swig of his drink, almost downing the whole thing in one gulp.

"You are lucky, with the way you are accusing me of your failures, that I don't kill you myself… it's sad really… that you only have seconds to live. " Persephone spoke with a dark tone of voice.

"Wha…?" Mendax started but he started convulsing at that moment and he coughed up some blood onto the table and glass.

The dark dragoness merely smirked at the overweight dragon and watched as he started wheezing between loud coughs.

"How ironic, isn't it? A lazy dragon like you has been killed by the two things he is obsessed over…the wine… and one of your own waitresses, whom was so happy and willing to put the poison in the wine." Persephone explained with a big grin as the male dragon fell to the floor. "Goodnight Mendax." she said with a toothy grin.

Mendax let out a loud gurgling noise before he layed still, never to move again. The dark dragoness merely chuckled as she and Oculos stood up. They heard the door open and looked to the entrance to see the maid walk in with wide eyes.

"I don't get it… you told me to poison all the glasses, how are you two okay?" the ice dragoness asked with honest curiosity.

"Quite simple, my dear. I cannot be killed by normal means and I gave Oculos here the cure to the poison." Persephone explained casually.

"Wow… thank you for freeing me from that pig… I don't even want to talk about what he did to me every night…" the former maid expressed her gratitude and Oculos rested a paw on her shoulder. "If I could do anything to repay you… please let me know." she added, causing the dark dragoness to smile.

"Don't worry, my dear. I think you'll be very useful to the Forsworn." Persephone told her with a smirk.

**A/N: Persephone maybe manipulating and ruthless, but she has a noble side to her. However, due to her origins and the one she serves, her Noble side can be lost within her desire to please the one she serves.**

**(1): Those of you who have been reading Native Avenger's Lightning series...yes...those "Others" are who you are thinking of.**

**(2): The Tragedy of King Pegasus is a play written back before The Empire was formed by Empress Emera. It tells the story of a young, violent and prideful king who is killed by the same poison he used to kill his older brother so he could ascend to the throne. Persephone thinks this would be a perfect way for Mendax to die.**


	13. Chapter 12: Return to Warfang

**Chapter 12: Return to Warfang**

**A/N: Another chapter is here. Also, I'd like to take a moment to explain why the Element of Light is not present as one of the original nine elements. **

**In the beginning, Spectra was represented as "Light" itself. She used the element as the element to create the world and timeline itself. The other elements descended from her and the element of light. There are technically Light dragons...however, they are referred to as "The First Dragons" whom are the Children of the Goddess herself. The First Dragon's descendents are able to use light as well. Spyro, being a child of a First Dragon and being one of Spectra's grandchildren has the potential to use the element as well. Malefor attempted to create the Light Element as well but was unable to make a perfect artificial version of the element like how he created Fear and Poison...but he succeeded partly. The end result of his experiment would later be known as the element of "Convexity".**

**...**

The journey back to Warfang took at least two days, due to Hunter and Luna not being able to fly and that it would take too much energy to carry them all of the way to the capitol city of The Empire, so the group resorted to walking. There was no trouble encountered on the journey back to the city, much to everyone's relief since they'd done a lot in Tall Plains.

Spyro felt glad that the group was seemingly at peace, things seemed less tense now that Mentem and Blaze had stopped feeling anger towards one another.

When the group finally arrived in Warfang, they headed straight for The Temple. While they made their way to the Temple, Spyro noticed several civilians look at the hooded Soturi. Spyro felt sorry for the Gargoyle, since in order to prevent anyone from causing verbal harm, he had to wear the hooded robe…Spyro couldn't imagine dealing with a strong amount of prejudice the Gargoyles must put up with.

Upon the group's arrival at the Temple, a meeting was called so the group could deliver their report to The Guardians and Cecil.

The meeting was at late at night, the moon's light peered through the windows of the Council room, and the silver rays of light touched the different banners that represented the nine dragon elemental breeds.

Cecil sat at his place at the council table, currently he was looking over the scroll The Paladin Corps had written and translated for him. He ran his talon over the brail and nodded briefly. The Guardians, Spyro, Cynder and the others waited patiently for the blind prophet to finish 'reading' the scroll.

"It makes sense…" Cecil spoke to the others. He looked up at the Guardians. "Paladin Commander-Umi says the findings they acquired have confirmed that The Forsworn were causing political and social strains among The Atlawa and Ape colonies…by burning select few homes and pinning the blame on the other. After the meeting, Terrador, contact our soldiers in the region, and tell them to attack the designated Forsworn hideouts in the region."

Terrador nodded. He then asked. "What did The Forsworn want on those lands?"

Cecil said. "The Forsworn are looking for an artifact, connected to The Goddess…however…which artifact it is, it doesn't say."

"But why attack the Gargoyles?" Caius asked. The Sand Guardian's voice held a hint of concern. "Like Spyro said, The Forsworn had the courage to actually attack The Eraser's village…that alone is suicidal."

Cecil looked in the sand guardian's direction. "Who else to attack…than the true natives of the forests…The Gargoyles' knowledge of Tall Plains are greater than any race in the world…not even the Chroniclers knew the full vast mystery of the forests."

Mori stepped forward towards the Council table.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt…but what about the issue of Mendax? And the plague?" The young Earth Dragoness asked.

"The plague has been annihilated." Skyress said. "I have a sister in law in the city…she was infected with the plague…" Skyress then sighed in relief before saying. "Luckily she wrote back to me, telling me that she's well along with the rest of her friends and family."

"The issue on Mendax…" Typhoon continued emotionlessly. "The Paladin Corps tracked him when he escaped house arrest. They stormed a Forsworn hideout used as a meeting house. Immediately, the agents surrendered…and found Mendax's body…the Paladins confirmed he died of natural causes…of a heart attack."

Cecil's eyes seemed to confirm he doubted the analysis.

"With his death," Cecil said. "The Forsworn won't have influence in the city…and you…"

Cecil said, looking Soturi's direction. The group looked at Cecil, knowing that he somehow sensed Soturi's presence. The Guardians looked at the cloaked Gargoyle in curiosity, not aware that Soturi was a Gargoyle.

Cynder and Hera noticed Soturi seem to shift uneasily…until Cecil smiled lightly with sincere politeness.

"You don't have to be concerned...It may have been centuries since I last saw one of your people...but I still hold respect for them, please...take off your hood." Cecil said, confirming he knew that Soturi was a Gargoyle.

Soturi seemed to hesitate briefly…not sure whether he should take the hood off…he noticed the sentinels that guarded The Guardians…but Cecil, the famous Prophet, the same dragon who The Eraser taught, showed sincere kindness. Soturi slowly pushed his hood back, revealing his wolf like head and batlike wings.

The Guardians gasped, minus Volteer, which the Electric guardian looked at the young Gargoyle in amazement, never having seen one before. The Guardian's sentinels tensed, ready for action. But they eased when Cecil spoke.

"Stop!" Cecil ordered, his expression hardened. "The gargoyle is our guest, not an enemy…he will be treated like a normal person, not being treated like a monster like the lies the colonist Atlawa of Tall Plains have spread about them."

The sentinels nodded. The Guardians seemed to ease, but still eyed The Gargoyle with slight worry. Typhoon looked at The Gargoyle with a look of mistrust, but not enough to cause an issue. When things calmed, Cecil looked at Spyro and the others and smiled at them and then looked to Soturi and then spoke in another language that no one in the room had ever heard, no one, except Soturi, understood the language.

_"Greetings, young one." _Cecil spoke in the Gargoyle's language.

Soturi looked shocked at hearing the blind dragon speak in his people's language. He wasn't expecting to hear the dragon speak it so…fluently.

_"Greetings…Mist Eyes." _Soturi replied respectively, using the name his tribe gave to Cecil.

Cecil chuckled lightly. He looked to the others.

"The meeting is adjourned," Cecil said. "Good work Spyro…you and your friends not only helped in curing the plague, but eliminated a major Forsworn fort, and saved Luna…I will speak with her in the infirmary afterwards…you may leave and rest."

Spyro, Cynder and the others bowed their heads, and left along with the Guardians. Two Sentinels volunteered to stay with Cecil, but he declined and the sentinels left hesitantly, eventually leaving Soturi and Cecil alone in the room.

Soturi bowed his head lightly.

_"It's an honor…" _Soturi said. _"My father speaks highly of you." _

Cecil smiled lightly and chuckled.

_"Your father, he is Irvikuva…The Eraser?" _Cecil asked.

_"Yes." _Soturi answered.

Cecil smiled. _"How is your father?"_

_"Well, and still strong." _Soturi replied smiling lightly.

_"I'm glad to hear that…"_ Cecil said. _"I thank you, for assisting Spyro, Cynder, Electra, Mentem, Blaze, Hera and Mori…but I have a feeling your father wants something in return?"_

_"Yes…"_ Soturi said amazed that Cecil remembered that much about his father.

_"Then, if it's in my power, I will do what I can to fulfill his wish…what does he want?" _Cecil asked curiously.

Soturi took a deep breath and began to speak. _"My father wanted me to ask if you could allow our people a voice within The Empire…for years, as you know even before the war against Malefor…our people have always been looked down upon…sometimes we are attacked by Atlawa colonists. We don't want a place on your council…but we just ask if we could have a voice and to openly voice our opinions so we can be heard." _

Cecil was silent for a moment, and nodded.

_"Your people," _Cecil began. _"Are brave, strong and loyal to one another…you have suffered through much, but have maintained a strong will. I owe your father and your tribe my life…the least I can do is accept your father's request."_

_"You mean…" _Soturi began.

Cecil nodded. _"As the prophet, I have power on the council; The Guardians cannot over rule some of my authority. Yes; your people may have representatives to voice your opinions and we will help deal with the issues of the Atlawa attacking your villages."_

Soturi bowed his head, and smiled lightly. _"Thank you…Prophet of Nigawes."_

Cecil nodded and closed his eyes. _"I know your people feel resentment towards The Goddess…I am aware of how much pain you have suffered in the war…but I promise, your opinions will not affect my respect for your people."_

Soturi nodded…amazed with Cecil's kind, calm and understanding personality.

Cecil slowly stood up out of his chair carefully, and felt for the table. Soturi walked over to the blind dragon and helped the prophet. Cecil looked up at Soturi.

_"I will help you…Mist Eyes." _Soturi said respectively. Cecil smiled lightly.

_"Thank you…Soturi…I appreciate your help." _Cecil said kindly.

...

Mentem was walking down one of the hallways within the temple. He was alone right now and he only had one thing in mind. To see how Tula was holding up. He still felt awful about the accident that happened prior to his mission and he was hoping that she was awake so he could apologize to her.

'I really hope Tula will forgive me for what I've done. Everyone else seems to have forgiven me, but I'm not sure… Typhoon is more than likely still pissed at me. I try my hardest to make him proud of me, but I always end up disappointing him somehow. I know that he absolutely hated it when I sailed with those pirates back in the day and he never shuts up about my hat, but I did it to protect everyone at sea. Those pirates wanted to help, yet I still get shit for it.' Mentem thought to himself with a depressed sigh. 'And don't even get me started with how he feels about me being an Atheist.' he added to himself with a heavy frown.

It didn't take long for the hat wearing dragon to reach the healers' quarters and he soon found Tula's room. He was about to go inside, but he froze when Typhoon, the Water Guardian, walked out.

"Oh, hi Typhoon." the fear dragon greeted, not sure what else to say.

The Water Guardian didn't reply. He simply looked at his adopted son with an emotionless stare. They both stared at one another until he walked past the fear dragon without a word. Mentem looked down in sadness, thinking that he was still mad at him. He jumped however when he heard a voice.

"Well done." Typhoon said over his shoulder before he turned the corner.

The hat wearing dragon smiled happily at this and looked up again. He sighed quietly in relief because he now knew that he had been somewhat forgiven. He stood there for another moment before he walked into Tula's room.

Mentem frowned however when he saw the water dragoness still asleep in the bed. He sighed quietly as he shut the door behind him and walked right up to her bed. He sat down in the seat next to the bed and looked down at her sleeping form.

"Hey Tula. I know you can't hear me right now… but I just wanted to say again that I'm sorry for what I did. I never meant to hurt you. Just… sorry." The fear dragon apologized with regret in his voice.

Like he predicted, Tula didn't reply because she was asleep. He stayed by her side for a few minutes before he decided to leave. Mentem slowly stood up from his seat with a sigh and began walking towards the door. He opened it, but before he walked out, he looked over his shoulder at the sleeping water dragoness.

"Get well soon… we all care about you." the hat wearing dragon told her with a frown before he walked out and shut the door behind him.

Mentem sighed once more as he looked down at the ground. He really wanted her to be awake when he came to visit her, but he was happy that Typhoon was at least tolerating him now. A small smile came to the fear dragon's lips before he walked down the hallway, wanting to find his allies.

...

"Been a while since you and I could just relax like this…" Cynder said softly as she and Spyro sat out on the balcony of their room in the Temple of Warfang.

It had been thirty minutes since the meeting, and the couple wanted to have some alone time before they went to bed. So the two simply cuddled up with one another, and looked up at the starry sky and the two moons in the night sky. The two lay on the ground of their balcony, enjoying the scenery.

"Yep…" Spyro said smiling lightly as Cynder rested her head on his neck. "I think the last time we could actually be together peacefully was three years ago, back during the first night you stayed at the Temple."

Cynder nodded, remembering the time when she joined Spyro out on the balcony of the Temple.

"But before," Cynder said while leaning close to her mate's cheek. "We weren't a couple…"

Spyro chuckled lightly and nodded. Cynder slowly kissed him on the cheek, which Spyro returned by kissing Cynder on her lips. The two stopped briefly, catching their breath. The two continued to look up at the sky. Cynder slowly raised her right forepaw, and pointed up at a constellation in the skies.

"See that star?" Cynder asked.

Spyro nodded seeing a star that was colored crimson.

"They say," Cynder began. "That long ago, in another world, that there was a bipedal race, we call them humans, worshipped the Star. The reason why, was because they believed the star to be a servant of The Goddess and that the star housed the essence of a powerful dragon."

Spyro looked at Cynder, interested in the story.

"Was it true? Was there actually a dragon housed in the star?" Spyro asked. Cynder looked at her mate, giggled lightly and nodded.

"Yes, the dragon had saved the humans several times in the past. Once to fight a demon of raw power, the second to fight immortal beasts that threatened the humans' very souls." Cynder said. "Alongside the dragon's six servants and the servants bonded humans, the dragon killed the demon and sealed the immortal beasts into the depths of the planet, never to return."

Spyro looked up at the star and nodded.

"To bad not many people believe it I bet…" Spyro said softly.

Cynder slowly rested her head on Spyro's shoulder.

"You don't have to worry about your Grandmother…she's strong in spirit; her love for mortals is strong enough for her to ignore the hurtful words some may say." Cynder said softly.

Spyro nodded briefly. He looked up at the crimson star…and closed his eyes briefly. He heard Cynder yawn briefly. Cynder slowly kissed Spyro on the cheek.

"I'm going to bed." Cynder said. Spyro nodded.

"See you in the morning." Spyro said smiling. Cynder nodded and slowly walked into their room and lay on her bed.

Spyro stayed outside for a few more minutes, before deciding to retire to his own bed.

…..

Mentem stood on top of the highest roof of the Temple, which was the highest point in the city, looking out at the vast city of Warfang.

The moon was starting to vanish on the horizon, with the sun beginning to rise over the horizon. Mentem felt the cool morning air brush passed his crimson scales. As he looked out at the city, he heard someone approach him from behind. Slowly, the fear dragon turned around, and saw Tula walk up to him. Mentem felt his heart race lightly when he saw his little sister.

Tula stopped in front of him, her eyes looking at the floor of the roof. Mentem sighed lightly, looking at the ground as well.

Mentem had known this wasn't going to be easy…the two hadn't spoken since the protest…

"Tula…I…" Mentem began, but was cut off when Tula walked forward, and hugged Mentem tightly.

"It's alright…" Tula said calmly. "I'm not mad…"

"But…I hurt you…" Mentem said.

"I know you didn't mean it." Tula responded while looking at her older brother figure. "You're my brother…I would never stay angry at you."

Mentem looked at the ground, but felt Tula place her paw over his cheek. The two adopted siblings were silent, until they heard a girl say.

"The soul is the gift of the goddess."

Mentem and Tula turned around, and saw four dragons standing out near the roof top entrance. One was a Shadow dragon named Artrium, who was seventeen years old he had black scales, a grey underbelly, dark red wings, two ram horns and a sickle tail blade.. The other was a wind dragoness named Ven, who was fifteen years old; she had silver-grey scales, white wings two horns and silver eyes. Then there were the two siblings. One was a rock dragon named Terra who was somewhat muscular, he was sixteen, had brown scales and a light brown underbelly, at the end of his tail was a hammer like tailblade. His fifteen year old sister was Rene, who had golden brown scales had no tail blade; she was a sand dragoness **(1)** and was the one who was reading a book out loud. These four are a part of the same class as Tula, Mentem, Blaze and Electra and are a part of their circle of friends.

Rene continued "When our body falls, our souls take to the skies…embracing the freedom not given by mortal shells."

Mentem looked at Tula, who was giggling lightly, Mentem smiled and looked at the four dragons.

"The Wings of Heaven Act 1 scene 1." Mentem said while laughing lightly.

Rene smiled calmly. "Oh, you remembered."

Mentem slowly tapped his head lightly.

"You smashed it into my skull remember?" Mentem asked.

Ven laughed lightly while Artrium just smiled lightly along with Terra. Slowly, Mentem adopted a combat stance, followed by the four dragons.

Terra looked over at Ven. "Remember, Mentem's no push over, even if this is a spar."

Ven chuckled lightly and the dragoness said. "Noted."

The four dragon rushed forward at the hat wearing dragon, and the spar commenced.

...

Oculos and Persephone were walking down a well lit hallway within a Forsworn fort in an unknown location. They were both silent as they walked because there were no words to be said. They knew that they had to speak to some new recruits who were to be leaders to a degree.

They two dragons reached a wooden door at the end of the hall and Oculos was the one to open it. Inside the room was a large circular table that had eight dragons sitting around it. Each of them was of a different element and their scale color matched their element.

"State your names and profession." Oculos ordered as he closed the door behind him.

"Stöt. I'm the group leader." the electric dragon spoke immediately with confidence in his voice. He possessed golden yellow scales with a yellow-orange underbelly and wing membranes. His horns and wing membranes also resembled lightning bolts.

"Orm. Alchemist." the dark green poison dragoness stated professionally. Her underbelly was black while her wing membranes were lime green and her tailblade looked like a hospital needle.

"Um, Jord. I'm a politician." The overweight earth dragon said as if he was just starting to pay attention. Both his underbelly and wing membranes were both dark green while his scales were light brown. He had two ram horns and his tailblade resembled a club.

"Brand. I was nominated to be the next Fire Guardian." the muscular fire dragon informed with a gruff sounding voice. His scales were bright red, yet his underbelly was yellow and his wing membranes were orange. Four horns were on his head and they curved back. Also, he had two blades at the end of his tail instead of just one.

"I'm Mörker… I was a teacher." the black scaled shadow dragon with yellow eyes greeted with a nod. He possessed a gray underbelly and blood red wing membranes. His four horns were spiraled spikes and his tailblade was shaped as a gruesome looking hook.

"Vind. I'm a giver of pleasure." the attractive wind dragoness introduced with a purr. Her light gray body was smooth and curvy, something that most men found attractive in dragonesses. Her wing membranes and underbelly were both white and she had three curved horns. Lastly, her tailblade resembled a spike.

"My name is Snö. I hand economics and business deals." the ice dragoness introduced with an emotionless expression. Her curvy body was dark blue in color, but her underbelly was light blue and her wing membranes were snowy white. She had two spiked horns on her head that were sticking straight up and her tailblade looked like an icicle.

"Rädsla. I was once a psychologist." **(2)** the skinny fear dragon stated with just as emotion as Snö. His scales were dark red, almost dragon, and his underbelly and wing membranes were black. He possessed four curved horns and a cross shaped tailblade. He also had a black sling gong across his chest with a black bag strapped to his side.

Persephone stepped forward and circled around the table within the meeting room, looking at each of the recruits with a cold stare. Some of them became nervous from her stone cold stare, but others simply stared back.

"I am aware you all could care less about the religious aspects of the Forsworn and that each of you have a different motive for offering your support. I completely understand. In fact, when the Empire falls, we will need Guardians like you controlling the political aspects of the new world… follow me, do as I command, and you will be rewarded." Persephone told them all as she slowly walked around the table. "All of your desires will be achieved in full… maybe more, depending on your loyalty to me. However… this goes both ways. If I ever sense that any of you are plotting to betray me… I will personally see to it that you are killed on the spot in the most horrifying way I see fit, Even if you escape my wrath, I will track you down till the end of time if I have to… I have all of the time in the world, and my memory is VERY, VERY GOOD. There won't be a single place in this world, even the timeline, that you will be safe. If and when I find you… I will kill you." she said in the most dark and menacing voice she could.

The dark dragoness then looked over at Jord and stared right at him. She moved closer to him so that their faces were mere inches apart.

"Very, very slow… and leave your bodies out for the scavengers to eat away at." She spoke very quietly, almost at a whisper.

The earth dragon gulped from the promise and slowly nodded in understanding. The dark dragoness smirked at him before she moved away from him and looked at everyone else.

"Is that understood?" she spoke loudly so that all of them could hear her.

All the other recruits simply nodded to her and she walked out of the room without another word. Oculos turned around to leave as well, but he stopped when he heard one of them speak.

"She has issues. I didn't expect to be bullied by a control freak." Jord mumbled as he and the other new recruits stood up.

Oculos immediately whipped around and shoved the overweight earth dragon back into his seat. Everyone was a little surprised by this, but they all stayed silent and watched.

"You can think whatever you want and say whatever you wish about me… but NEVER speak ill of Persephone." the death dragon spat with a snarl. "If I every catch you or any of you talking like that again, I will personally stop your heart from beating." he warned as his eyes began to glow slightly.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry… sir." Jord apologized with wide, fearful eyes.

Oculos just scoffed at the fat dragon before he turned around and walked out of the meeting room. No one spoke a word after he left and the all walked out as well. Some were frightened by what just happened, but others weren't affected in the slightest. Rädsla smirked as he left however. He figured that he would like it there if it meant that he could see Jord upset.

...

It was midnight at Warfang, the city's inhabitants were asleep, and only the city guard were awake, patrolling the skies, the streets or the walls.

About a mile out from the city, a trading caravan could be seen in the distance with lanterns making their presence known. The caravan supposedly came from the desert, due to the trader's clothing being of that general theme.

In the center carriage of the caravan was where the leader stayed. The leader of the caravan was an emerald green dragon with goldish brown markings. At the end of his tail was an emerald like jewel with silver spikes surrounding it. His eyes were emerald green like his scales. He rested on a seating pillow in the carriage. In his hands he held a clear gem, which reflected the different colors of the spectrum.

Cuddled up next to him were two young dragonlings, both the same age of three and were twin brother and sister, which were two of his many nieces and nephews. They both had red scales with blue markings spotted across their bodies. The leader looked to the sleeping dragons, smiled and put the jewel away into his bag. Slowly the horses pulling carriage came to a stop. The mole who held the reigns called to the leader.

"Lord Janus, we've arrived." The mole said respectfully.

Janus smiled and stood up, not wanting to awaken his niece and nephew.

"Great!" Janus said quietly in a happy tone.

Janus stepped out of the carriage and saw the mighty gates of Warfang ahead of his caravan. He smiled.

_'Ah…Emera…I will never get over how the moles willingly build such a big city in our mother's honor.'_ Janus spoke quietly as he slowly stepped forward to the front of the caravan. _'Now then, how to introduce myself to my long lost nephew and his friends…how to approach this…OH!'_

Janus smiled mischievously. _'Yes! That will do just fine!' _Janus thought. "Now then! It's time for the Dragon-God of Mischief and Pranks himself to make his entrance!" **(3)**

"Uhh…my lord…" said a passing merchant of the caravan, who was a desert cheetah, spoke, weirded out. "You're thinking out loud again."

Janus looked at one of his merchants, and smiled lightly.

"Yes, that I am Saber…that I am!" Janus said, not before laughing out loud loudly.

Little did the city of Warfang know, that the day was going to be an interesting one…since the Dragon-God of Mischief himself had arrived.

**A/N: (1) The group is now complete.  
**

**(2) Yep, readers beware, the "Psychologist" himself has arrived...hope Persephone has fail safes regarding the sadistic bastard himself. **

**(3) ****Those of you who have read my other fic Naruto: Sage of Dawn…yes…this is the EXACT same Janus you saw in the story. Those of you who are not familiar with the Dragon-god…well…lets put it this way, he's the master of WTF moments. **


	14. Chapter 13: The Dragon-God of Mischief

**Chapter 13: The Dragon-God of Mischief **

**(Warning: Chapter may contain ultimate weirdness since The Dragon-God of Mischief and Pranks being present...) **

* * *

**History of The Worlds of Spectra: _The Dragon-God's._**

**_The first nine born children of Spectra. These nine First Dragons take an active role in their mother's defense, while their younger siblings live away from mortals in order to keep their personalities from clashing with that of mortals, The Dragon-Gods interact with mortals the most. The nine Dragon-Gods are (in order from oldest to youngest): _**

**_Alpha (Oldest son of Spectra and leader of The Dragon God's), Nova (Oldest daughter of Spectra, mated to her brother Alpha), Emera (Dragon-Goddess who assists her mother in watching over The Afterlife and is one of the five Bai Chi), Magnus (Dragon-God of Fire and the forge), Aqua (Dragon-Goddess of the oceans), Janus (Dragon-God of Mischief and patron to Traders with a good cause), Maelstrom (Dragon-god of Storms), Ventus (Dragon-God of Air and Winds, patron to noble sailors) and Tsuki (Dragon-Goddess of Love and loyalty, mated to her elder brother Magnus)_**

* * *

It was currently morning in the proud city of Warfang and the citizens were performing their morning activities. Spyro, Cynder, Spes, and Electra were currently walking together towards the market district because they wanted to see what they could buy for breakfast. They decided to eat out together instead of eating at the Temple because Spyro and Cynder wanted to see more of the city.

"You two know this city better than us; do you have any ideas where we should eat?" Cynder asked suddenly as they walked together.

"Eh, there's a bunch of places to get a good breakfast. We'll just look around for a bit and chose the most appetizing place." Spes replied with a slight shrug.

The group of four stopped once they entered the market district and they saw something interesting. A large crowd of civilians were standing around a single stand. They spotted a green dragon who was manning the stand and he had a big smile plastered on his face.

Curious as to what he was selling, the group of four walked over to the stand and joined the crowd. Unknown to them, they were looking at the God of Mischief himself.

"We have everything there that you could think of! Flowers from distant continents and provinces of the Empire for the pretty dragoness'!" Janus called before he disappeared, only the reappear in front of a fire dragoness.

The dragoness blushed when he gave her and a bouquet of exotic roses. Luckily for her, her crimson red scales hid her blush. He then teleported back to his stands.

"Scrolls holding techniques for the courageous dragons who want to master them! Oh and these expensive vases!" the dragon god cheered before he grabbed a few vases, threw them up into the air, and easily caught them with his back and tail.

The vases were stacked one on top of the other, greatly impressing the crowd. He then gently tossed the vases into a stack o the side of his stand and looked at the crowd once again.

"And now! Without further ado! We are OPEN!" Janus exclaimed as he raised his two wings in an overly heroic posture.

...

Spyro, Cynder, Spes and Electra looked around at the various items that the merchant had in stock…it was obvious he had travelled across various lands. The leader of the stands had various assistants as well, who helped the various customers to the different shop items. Occasionally Electra went ahead of the group to look at the different things to buy. Three items in particular caught her attention.

"Guys! Take a look at this!" She said excitedly.

Spyro, Spes and Cynder approached Electra, who looked at one stand that had three small jewels resting on a small pillow, one gem was colored silver, and had the image of a wolf, the other was golden yellow and had an image of a bird and finally a sapphire with a serpent like dragon engraved on it.

"What kind of jewels are those?" Spes asked.

Spyro and Cynder shrugged, not knowing what the gems could represent. But the group failed to notice Janus appear behind them as Electra reached for the jewels.

"Beautiful aren't they!" Janus whispered softly, surprising the four dragons as they spun around. Janus grinned widely at the four dragons. "HA! You should see the look on you faces! You four were so intent on those beautiful, mesmerizing jewels that you never saw me coming!"

Janus laughed loudly, using one talon to rub a tear away. Eventually his laughter died down to mere chuckles.

"My apologizes," Janus began respectfully. "I have a very bad habit with surprising my customers…though it is funny you have to admit! Oh, and you may call me Janus! The master of this glorious caravan!"

The group looked at Janus as if he was crazy, Janus chuckled again and looked to Spyro, and grinned, but then looked confused at Spyro.

"Spyro…where is Sparx? Isn't it his job to protect you…I mean…oh wait…wrong subject! My bad!" Janus said goofily.

"Uhh…" Spyro said, the conversation had gotten awkward very fast.

Janus grinned. "Again, terribly sorry." Janus approached the jewels, picked them up, and held them out. "Now, to answer your question," He began. "These jewels belong to a tribe of people who are said to be the 'protectors' of the Godddess. These jewels house the essences of ancient 'god spirits' which are the tribe's ancient protectors as well."

"Cool." Spyro, Cynder and Electra said, amazed, Spes merely nodded, seemingly not interested.

Janus grinned. "Yep!" He said. "The tribe had a family line that had the ability to summon the spirits themselves. They passed the technique down from parent to child. Those who could master the god spirits were respected among the tribe."

"That's a cool story," Electra said.

Janus looked at the electric dragoness. "And wanna know a secret?" Janus asked grinning. "It's all true!"

The others looked at one another, not sure what to say to the merchant…

"Oh! And wanna hear a joke!" Janus said. "It's a classic one!"

"Uhh no thanks…" Spyro began but was cut off when Janus interrupted him.

"It goes like this! Two men walked into a bar! And said…OUCH!" Janus said, he then extended his wings out, as if expecting them to laugh. "Well!"

Spes, Spyro and Cynder looked at Janus blankly…not finding the joke to be funny even the slightest…however…Cynder noticed Electra, on the other hand, seemed to struggle not to laugh. Suddenly, the electric dragoness fell onto the ground laughing, clutching her belly while tears rolled out of her eyes.

"OUCH! HA! THAT'S SO FUNNY!" Electra laughed.

Janus grinned and began to laugh. "HA!" He said. "I like that girl! She has a great sense of humor!"

"It wasn't funny…" Spes muttered.

"Oh!" Janus said. "Looks like someone has no sense of humor…"

"Or maybe your jokes aren't funny." Spes countered.

Janus sighed and shook his head.

"Well, that's hurtful…" Janus said. "But I've pleased tougher crowds! And I intend to deliver! How about this! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL OF WITS!" Janus yelled.

"Wait…what?" Spyro asked, confused about what was happening, this guy's conversation has been jumping around all over the place...he knew Cynder was confused as well.

"Oh it's quite a fun game! I like to call it…" Janus paused, a mischievous grin plastered on his face. "THE MAZE OF MADNESS!"

Before anyone could know what was happening…a blast of emerald light appeared around Spyro, Cynder, Spes and Electra…in a split second, they vanished from sight. Bystanders looked at the commotion, and only saw the disguised Dragon-god chuckling to himself.

_'Alright…' _Janus thought. _'Stage one of operation: Family reunion is a go…Spyro and his friends should have some fun in the maze…oh I'm so excited! Can't wait for the main entrance!'_

Janus chuckled lightly.

_'Now then! Time to get Marcus and Martha, it's time for my niece and nephew to meet Spyro!'_

_..._

Spyro, Cynder, Spes, and Electra recovered from the bright flash from earlier and looked around to see that they were some sort of swamp. The purple dragon recognized this swamp as the one he grew up in with the dragonflies.

The group noticed to muddy ground they were standing on and the giant mushroom surrounding them. They were all confused to say the least.

"How did we get here?" Spyro asked with a completely shocked expression.

The group couldn't answer because they didn't know either. Cynder began to take a single step forward, but as soon as she did however, there was another bright flash and a loud boom. Once the light cleared, the group of four found themselves in Warfang market district. The only difference from before was that no one but them were around.

"What the…?" the purple dragon started, but he was interrupted by a booming voice.

"Welcome to the Maze of Madness! The trickiest maze in the entire timeline! Results on the brain include: severe headaches, dizziness! Oh! And the desire to strangle the owner of said maze! Penalty for not being able to finish the maze in thirty minutes include having their soul trapped here for all of eternity; with terrible elevator music! But rewards for beating it includes getting a package of purple and orange flavored gum! Hope you all make it… with your sanity intact!" Janus' voice spoke to them before he laughed loudly and his laughter faded away.

"What… the… FUCK!" Spes shouted loudly with frustration and anger in his voice.

"Okay, everyone calm down. We can do this." Spyro spoke up, trying to reassure everyone.

"This is probably just one big joke." Electra mumbled, but it didn't sound like she even believe herself.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way out of this place." Cynder assured before she began to walk forward again.

She was rewarded with another blight flash that blinded everyone and loud boom. Once the light cleared, they were in Dante's Freezer. They were in an icy plane with snow falling at a rapid rate, making everyone, but their ice dragon friend shiver.

"Sorry…" the black dragoness apologized with a sheepish smile.

"Not your fault." Spes stated with a straight face, not wanting to direct his anger towards her.

"Let's just poof to another place before we f-f-freeze to d-death…" Spyro suggested and he attempted to walk forward.

Once again, there was a loud bang and a flash before they learned that they were in Convexity. This is the same place where Spyro freed Cynder from her enslavement. The group looked around at the alien place with interest, but they knew that they had to keep moving forward.

"Hey, I just realized something." Cynder spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "If this is a maze, then why aren't there any walls or anything?" she asked, bringing up a good point.

"Because Janus is a bastard and he wanted us to get upset." Spes answered simply as if it was obvious.

They each took a single step forward and once again, they were teleported to another area with a loud boom. Once the light cleared, they found themselves in a tropical jungle and dinosaurs could be seen drinking from a river in the distance.

"Okay… this is different." Electra commented flatly as they watched a pterodactyl fly above them and towards some mountains in the distance.

Not wanting to take their chances with the large lizards in the jungle, they each stepped forward once more. Like before, There was a bright flash and a boom, but they appeared in a different place entirely. The group was now in a completely white void and two things could be sen in the distance.

The first thing was a mysterious door that was made out of wood, big enough for a dragon. The other object was a sign that, in bright green letters, read... "exit."

_..._

Spyro, Cynder, Electra and Spes made their way through the odd door, as soon as they did, they came into what looked like a large throne room…it had several emerald green banners across the wall, at the head of the room was a circular glass window with the multi colored image of the goddess, along with a wooden throne, which sat a Emerald green dragon…Janus.

Spes growled lightly, seeing the dragon who had trapped him and the others in this…place.

Janus grinned lightly and stood up from his throne, while approaching the group of young dragons. The group tensed, ready for combat, that was until they saw the mysterious dragon grin and laugh lightly.

"AMAZING!" He yelled happily, catching the four dragons off guard. "You made it out! OUTSTANDING! No mortal has ever made it out of the Maze without giving up! You, Spyro, are a truly remarkable…along with your friends as well!"

"Uhhh…" The group said, slightly disturbed and confused. Janus grinned again.

"Good thing what I said about you all being 'trapped-in-the-maze-for-eternity' thing was a bluff…now that would suck!" Janus said happily.

"Wait!" Electra said, shocked and bewildered. "WE WEREN'T IN ANY DANGER! THAT WAS A JOKE!"

Janus grinned. "Yep, just a prank!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US!" Electra yelled, angrily. Janus' grin turned into a smirk.

"Because, my dear," Then, suddenly, emerald flames appeared around the merchant, and soon, Janus' form became bigger by five feet, his scales became brighter and his merchant attire turned into royal emerald green robes with gold markings, on his forehead was a emerald jewel, he wore a necklace around his neck with a similar jewel attached as well. "I am! The Dragon-God of Mischief and Pranks himself! It's what I do!"

The group looked in amaze at the now taller dragon, he radiated an aura that didn't seem intimidating…but it showed that he was powerful.

"A…Dragon-God…" Cynder said, looking at Spyro. "One of the first born of Spectra."

Spyro looked at the Dragon-God…realizing that the Dragon-god…was one of his uncles…Janus' form slowly reverted to his original form that he introduced to the others…

"Yes, Cynder." Janus said, smiling lightly. "As you observed, I am the sixth oldest child of my mother, whom you call Spectra."

Electra and Spes looked at the Dragon-God with skeptical look.

_'You've got to be kidding me…' _Electra thought, not entirely believing what she was hearing…well she believed that this dragon was a powerful one, and that he LOVED to prank…and also said very funny jokes (At least funny to her).

"This guy's insane…no…a lunatic…" Spes muttered under his breath.

Janus looked at Electra and Spes and grinned at the two, the two shuttered lightly, since he looked in their direction.

"Yes yes yes, I know you two don't believe in my mother, but I bet you didn't expect you step in gum!" Janus said laughing, and sure enough, underneath Electra, Spes, Cynder and Spyro's paws…was purple gum. Janus laughed wildly.

"What the!" Electra said, trying to get the gum off of her paw.

"OH YES! That is the oldest in the book! Damn those humans come up with magnificent pranks!" Janus laughed loudly.

Janus snapped his talons, the gum vanishing in a cloud of white smoke.

Spyro looked at his paw briefly and then up at Janus, who was looking down at him, smiling. Janus approached Spyro and placed one paw over the teenage purple dragon's head.

"It's nice to meet you at last…my dear nephew." Janus said calmly with a grin.

Spyro smiled happily, looking up at his uncle.

"Wait…WHAT!" Electra said, surprised. "He's…"

"This lunatic's your uncle!" Spes said the shock evident in his voice.

"Now hey!" Janus said looking at the two dragons. "I'm not that crazy…well…okay scratch that, I am crazy, but I am not a lunatic…but yes, I am one of Spyro's uncles…I haven't seen him since…well never. His mother, my sister, says she's watched his growth for a long time…I just figured I'd do all of this to finally meet one of my famous nephews."

Cynder walked up to her mate's side.

"Why didn't you just tell Spyro who you were?" Cynder asked, she'd heard stories about the Dragon-God, and how he hardly meddled in mortal affairs unless needed…but surely he wouldn't have the patience to set up a devious plan to meet his nephew.

"Well," Janus began. "For one I really love messing with people, since it is in my job description as the Dragon-God of Mischief to make pranks and all that…well, I don't have a job description, but you see my point…though I prefer not being like that one so called Demi-god…what was his name…Loki! That's right…wait…oh sorry, wrong reality! But anyways, back onto the subject! I do have my reasons."

Jajus looked down at Spyro, Janus' expression was now serious, which was the first time Spyro and the others had seen him serious.

"Nephew, there is much that is in flux, I am aware of your battle with Persephone and her Forsworn…however…this conflict is not a war that you may think it is…no…it is bigger than you think." Janus said his tone serious. "There is much about that world that you, and your friends, do not understand. Such as the Maze and this place," Janus paused, using his wings to gesture to his throne room. "You are in my personal Realm, The Realm of Glädje, each of the First Dragons, your aunt and uncles, have one. They exist outside of time and space and defy the laws or time and space. Your conflict with The Forsworn has been one that has existed since the beginning of time…it is only right that you know what you are up against."

Spyro nodded, understanding. "Thank you, uncle."

Janus nodded, and then looked towards one of the pillars.

"Now then, how would you like to meet two of your cousins…Marcus, Martha, I know you're there…you may come out now." Janus called out. The group looked to towards the pillar to see the heads of two three year old dragonlings peer around the pillar and run forward towards the group.

Both the dragonlings were twins, a brother and sister; they both had red scales with blue spots on their scales and had blue horns. The two dragonlings stopped in front of Spyro, looked up at him and grinned happily.

"Are you our cousin!" The twins said at the same time, happily.

Spyro smiled at his younger cousins and nodded. "It seems like that…"

"My name's Marcus!" The brother said happily.

"I'm Martha!" The sister said right after her brother.

"Nice to meet you!" They both said at the same time.

Spyro chuckled lightly at the two and nodded.

Janus stepped towards his energetic niece and nephew and smiled. "Whenever I accompany my caravans who view me as their Patron, since I am considered the patron of Caravans who have good intent, I bring along one of your cousins with me so they can see what it is like in the mortal realms…since we First Dragons mostly prefer to be in the company of other First Dragons, our brothers and sisters, though I prefer to be among some mortals." Janus paused and lightly rubbed the heads of both his niece and nephew. "But since the children of a First dragon cannot age passed the age of three, they are eternally three years old, both physically and mentally."

"Wait," Electra interrupted. "That doesn't make sense…you claim that Spyro is your nephew? In turn a grandson of 'The Goddess', and a son of a 'First Dragon' then why is he fifteen then?"

"Simple, Electra." Janus said. "Because his mother is a First Dragon, his father was mortal, meaning he ages and lives like a mortal. He is able to control the elements of my mother, but he is mortal like you three."

It made sense to Spyro and Cynder, though Electra and Spes didn't believe it.

"Now then!" Janus said excitedly. "How would you four like to come with me on a field trip! I'm sure you wont like it but it will be a good place to go to as a way to show what some realms can be like…though the realm we're going to doesn't belong to any of my siblings…but recently a Necromancer has challenged me…to any game I choose it seems…and I'd like you all to come with me!"

"Uhhh…." The four dragons said.

"Great!" Janus said, not waiting for their answer. "Martha, Marcus please be good, I'll return soon." He said, kissing their foreheads lightly.

"Bye Uncle Janus!" They both said cutely.

"Now!" Janus said. "LET US BE OFF!"

Before the four confused Dragons could react, Janus snapped his talons, Spyro, Cynder, Electra, Spes and Janus vanished in a flash of Emerald green light.


	15. Chapter 14: Welcome to Necroplis

**Chapter 14: Welcome to Necropolis**

**A/N: This chapter includes the main antagonist of Native Avenger's "****Turok: Skræling Warrior", The Necromancer. Just so you know, he is the exact same character from the story, just as Janus is the same character in the other stories as well. I suggest you read Native Avenger's new fic, it's awesome! Anyways, ENJOY!  
**

There was a flash of emerald green light within the darkness and Spyro, Cynder, Electra, and Janus appeared in… wherever the Dragon God of Mischief teleported them.

The group looked around the dark area they were in and it appeared that they were in a hallway with a blood red rug under their feet. The walls and ceiling were made from stone bricks and torches lined the walls, providing some light, but the hall was still relatively dark.

"Where are we now?" Spes groaned as they all looked around the foreboding place.

"This place is scary…" Electra commented quietly as she unknowingly scooted closer to Janus.

"We're in a Realm called… Necropolis. It's a very dreary place if I do say so myself." the Dragon God spoke goofily, trying to ease the tension.

He noticed that his words didn't make them feel better at all and he rolled his eyes. The younger dragons gasped however when they spotted four sets of glowing blue eyes within the darkness. It looked like the eyes were approaching them and everyone, but Janus adopted a combat stance.

"Don't worry, they won't harm us." the Dragon God assured as the evil eyes got closer and closer.

The glowing eyes' owners finally stepped into the light and the group gasped at what they saw. The glowing eyes weren't eyes at all, they were glowing eye sockets. The four creatures were humanoid skeletons wearing rusty iron armor over their chests and wrists. They each carried a serrated sword and they stared at the group with blank faces.

"You've been expected…" one of the skeletal soldiers spoke in a very drawn out and strained voice.

"Take us to your master." Janus requested with what Spyro realized was a sad expression.

'Why is he upset? Where these creatures turned into undead soldiers without their consent?' the purple dragon asked in his head as he and the rest of the group followed the four skeletons.

The four undead creatures led them down the hallway and they reached a large wooden door that was tall enough for Janus to walk through. Two of the skeletons opened the door and the other two led the group inside.

Like the hallway, the walls and ceiling were made from stone bricks and the floor was covered in a red rug. There were also more torches in this room, so it was easier to see what the area looked like. Some paintings could be seen on the walls and they showed several evil looking landscapes. Lastly, there was a throne at the end of the room with a hooded figure sitting on it.

'That must be the Necromancer that uncle was talking about.' Spyro thought to himself as he saw glowing green eyes under the dark hood.

"Hmm… you bring guests…" the robed figure spoke with a dry sounding male voice as the two skeletons walked over to both sides of the throne and spun around on their heels so they were facing the group.

"Yes, I brought my nephew and his friends so they could witness me beating you at your own game." Janus replied confidently and he glanced at the younger dragons to see Electra holding back a smile.

The robed figure didn't comment on this and stood up. The dragons watched with mixed expressions as the Necromancer stepped into the light. The Necromancer was wearing tattered dark gray robes that looked Arabian in origin. What was disturbing however, was that the creature was a skeleton with small scraps of flesh still attached and he had fangs. He was also just as tall as an adult dragon, which wasn't very common for any humanoid creature. Bony spines were sticking out of his back and going down his spine. He possessed four separate arms with two on each side and four serrated swords were strapped to his belt.

"Who are you?" Spes couldn't help, but ask as they stared at the intimidating creature standing before them.

"I go by many names, dragon. My name varies from Realm to Realm, you see. I am called; Nekromant, Defúnctus, but you all can call me… Nigromantii… because that is what the Dragon Realms refer to me as." the Necromancer introduced as his bony hands clicked together.

"Hey, Electra. He wears that hood because he's bald and doesn't want anyone to know." Janus whispered to the electric dragoness with a snicker, making her giggle.

"Enough of this pathetic drabble… you are here for a reason." Nigromantii said sternly with all four of his arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh right, I get to choose a game! Hm… what game should we play…?" the Dragon God thought aloud as he rubbed his chin in thought.

As the God considered his options, Spyro and the rest of the group noticed more glowing blue eyes in the darkness and were getting creeped out. And undead crowd was forming to watch the event. There were bone dragons, zombie-like humans, and various other nightmarish creatures that no one in the group even considered to exist before. They even saw a skeleton of a mermaid crawling on the floor.

"I KNOW WHAT WE SHOULD PLAY!" Janus shouted excitedly, gaining everyone's attention. "We should play chess!" he announced with a victorious smile, feeling proud of himself.

Spes and Nigromantii actually face palmed from this and the other dragons just looked at him with looks of confusion. No one could understand how Janus could be so cheerful when he was literally surrounded by death.

"I'm a deity of death and a bringer of evil, and you want to me to play chess?" the undead creature asked irritably.

"YES!" the Dragon God cheered happily with a toothy smile.

The Necromancer groaned at this, but a table that had a chessboard and two chairs appeared in the middle of the room with a sickly green mist. The two combatants calmly sat down opposite of each other and the chess pieces appeared on the board. The pieces were made out of whale bones the board itself was fade from porcelain.

"This is gonna be good! Playing against the smartest dumb person in all time and space… it's so exciting!" the Dragon God of Mischief thought aloud as he looked at his black pieces, which meant that he would go second.

"I'd rather take a fucking axe to your face than play this dreadful game of simplistic proportions." Nigromantii spat with a voice full of hate.

"Oh! Did I say that out loud! I'm sorry, I can't help myself. I just enjoy complimenting those who are not as handsome as I am… and what did you do to your hair… oh wait… you don't have any… I'm terribly sorry. Oh please continue with your move and I'll shut up… no seriously, what did you do to your hair?" Janus asked with a sly grin.

"At least I don't waste my time trying to save a dying world. And I am aware of your immortality, but that shall not stop me from taking thousands of miles of barbed wire to cut you profusely! I will also shove a friggin sword so far up your anal cavity that you shall shit bloody diarrhea for a century!" the robed skeleton growled as he moved one of his pawns up two spaces.

"Oh my… seems I struck a nerve… terribly sorry. I just can't help myself, but seriously, what is with your face? I mean, could you just either go with all the flesh on your face or just none at all? I mean look at you, you even make Draugr look beautiful… oh wait… those don't' exist here. But still, did you always look this ugly? Or were you uglier… oh wait… that's not possible I guess…" the Dragon God figured with a shrug as he moved his knight up.

The Necromancer ignored the Dragon God's words and quickly moved another pawn up. Everyone noticed that while Janus' took awhile to think about his moves, Nigromantii quickly and swiftly took his turn without hesitation.

'This guy must be smarter than he looks.' Cynder thought to herself as she and the others watched Nigromantii take out Janus' queen with a rook.

Tension grew as more and more pieces were taken off the board. Finally, there were only two pieces on the board, the two kings. Each player tried to pin the other in the corner, but it seemed like they were able to predict each other's moves. After awhile though, they both finally just stopped and stared at each other.

"I don't think either of us are gonna win this game." Janus concluded with a grin plastered on his face.

"It seems so…" Nigromantii replied bitterly as the board and table began to evaporate in a sickly green mist.

The two players slowly stood up just before the chairs could disappear and they looked directly at each other. Janus was smiling the whole time while Nigromantii held a blank expression, although that was most likely because he couldn't make facial expressions.

"So… it's a tie?" an undead dragon asked as it tilted its head to the side.

"Yes… it is a tie." the Necromancer confirmed, not sounding too happy about this.

"I hope you know that I was going easy on you." Janus bragged with a toothy smile.

"So was I." Nigromantii replied emotionlessly.

The undead deity then looked towards the group of dragons he wished that Janus wasn't right there so he could have some fun with the mortals, but he supposed that his fun could wait another day.

"I hope you all enjoyed yourselves… because the next time you are in MY world… it won't be as fun for you."

The group shivered from his words and Cynder even scooted closer to Spyro. This guy's creepiness could challenge even Malefor's. Janus wanted to intervene, but he figured that it would be best to let the Necromancer say what he likes and he's cheer up the group later once they were out of Necropolis.

Nigromantii then looked over at Electra and took a single step towards her, making her visibly tremble in fear. She partially wanted to know why the monster was focused on her, but she also wanted to be left alone.

"Hmmm… I can see your future… and you will suffer greatly." Nigromantii informed her with sadistic delight. "Too bad I won't be the one making you suffer so, but beggers cannot be choosers, hm?" he continued with a dark cackle.

"W-w-what do you mean…?" Electra asked shakily. "What will happen to me? Why me? I didn't do anything wrong… I didn't-" she was cut off when she, Spyro, Cynder, Spes, and Janus were enveloped in the sickly green mist and they disappeared.

...

Cecil, Pyra, Cyril, Terrador, Volteer and the other Guardians were in the council room of Warfang. By now, Cecil had told everyone that he would allow the Gargoyle tribes to have a representative on the council, saying that they, like every race within the Imperial Providences had a right to a voice in the Empire. The initial reaction was shock, but none of the Guardians refused the Prophet's proposal, knowing that the Empire was made under Empress Emera's belief of equal rights to all races.

But now, Cecil had the intention on bringing up the issue of the Poison and Fear dragon breeds having a seat on the council. In the room were Tula, Hera and Mentem, who wanted to see how things would work out. Both dragons knew Cecil supported the idea of having the Poison and Fear dragons on the council, but they knew Cecil also wanted the other Guardians to agree.

But before Cecil could make his proposal, everyone in the room heard a whistling noise…

Mentem looked at the poison dragoness next to him.

"What's that sound?" Mentem asked, curiously.

Hera shrugged, adjusting her glasses. Tula listened carefully.

"It almost sounds…like an approaching firecracker…" Tula said. But right as she said that, several explosions of emerald green and gold fireworks blew up in the middle of the council room, and then in one of the firework explosions, appeared Spyro, Cynder, Spes, Electra and Janus (in his Dragon-God form) landing on the middle of the council table. Spyro and the others landed on their sides, coughing briefly while Janus landed on his feet in a dramatic pose.

The sentinels were about to react, until Cecil, who recognized the Dragon-God's aura, ordered them to stand down. Suddenly, Janus spoke.

"DRAGONS AND DRAGONESSES! THE DRAGON-GOD OF MISCHIEF HIMSELF IS IN THE BUILDING!" Janus yelled happily, he then back flipped off the table and towards the head of the table and suddenly a microphone appeared in his hands. "PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR THE SIXTH BORN OF SPECTRA! THE LOVING AND HANDSOME BROTHER OF THE DRAGON-GODDESS EMERA!"

Janus then throws the mic on the ground and held up his wings, waiting for applause. But he only got weird looks from the people in the room. However, his eyes land on Cecil who sat in his place on the opposite end of the table. He saw the blind prophet smile lightly and clap his hands, which everyone looked at Cecil.

"Cecil!" Janus said happily, teleporting in front of the prophet. "How you doing!"

"Lord Janus…" Cecil said smiling. "An honor to see you again."

"You look good for one hundred and fifteen years old!...man I missed a lot of birthdays…" Janus said while tapping his chin. "Guess that means you'll get one hundred and fifteen times the cake!"

Cecil sighed and but his smile remained.

"You haven't changed a bit my lord…" Cecil said.

Janus looked to the guardians and grinned. He then noticed his nephew and his friends slowly slide off of the table and walk up to their friends; Mentem, Tula and Hera. Suddenly, Janus teleported in front of Mentem in a flash of emerald green light.

"I KNOW YOU!" Janus said happily.

"AHHH!" Mentem said, surprised to see the supposed Dragon-God in front of him.

"You're the famous Mentem himself!" Janus said excitedly. "I know because of that hat! OH I'VE TOLD MY NIECES AND NEPHEWS SO MANY SOTRIES ABOUT YOU AND YOUR ADVENTURE WITH THOSE PIRATES!"

Suddenly, a pirate's hat appeared on Janus' head.

"OH I LOVE THE OPEN WINDS OF THE SEA!" Janus said happily.

"You're insane…" Mentem said plainly.

"Nope, I just love being hyper!" Janus said happily while teleporting on top of the council table. "Oh how big brother Alpha would always tell me 'Janus, you need to stop eating sugar from the mortal realms!' and I would say 'But big brother! I love sugar! It's the greatest invention in the world!'" The Dragon-god then chuckled…while everyone, minus Electra and Cecil, looked at him with a blank expression.

Electra tapped Cecil on the shoulder and whispered. "Am I the only one who thinks his jokes are funny?"

Cecil chuckled lightly, and didn't answer. Cecil then looked up at the Dragon-God.

"My lord," Cecil said.

Janus teleported in front of the blind dragon and smiled.

"Oh Cecil, you don't have to be so formal with me…I prefer it if you would call me just by 'Janus.'"

Cecil sighed lightly. "Why have you come?" Cecil asked.

"Oh, you know, just wanted to bring two of my nieces and nephews with me. Also wanted to visit a nephew of mine" Janus paused and looked at Spyro and winked lightly. Spyro smiled lightly at his hyper uncle. "And…I also wanted to explain to Spyro a little bit about this war…" Janus paused, his tone serious. "And how I have a feeling a third party is about to get involved."

"You mean an enemy who is not the Forsworn?" Skyress asked, the Wind guardian had a shocked tone in her voice.

Janus looked at the guardians. "Yes…he calls himself The Necromancer…even considers himself a deity, and through a…certain game of Chess, I was able to identify that he is not as dumb as he looks. He was even able to make it so we ended the game in a draw…and we weren't even using our full intelligence and strategist methods…"

"The game ended…in a draw?" Cecil asked, shocked. "But you're strategies…are only matched by Empress Emera and the other Dragon-gods."

Janus nodded and looked to the others in the room, Spyro, Cynder, Spes and Electra were shocked to know that the "field trip" to Necropolis actually had an important plan…he wanted to know if The Necromancer was a threat or not…and by the game ending in a draw…it confirmed The Dragon-God's worries.

Janus looked to Cecil.

"I must leave and inform a caravan of mine in the realm of The Lost Lands of this recent development…" Janus said.

"Does the Necromancer seem to hold a threat to The Goddess' life?" Cecil asked.

"No…he doesn't seem to care about my mother's life whether she lives or dies…possibly since mother is a deity of both life and death, he possibly respects that she is a death deity as well…honor among gods I guess you could say…" Janus paused. "Well! Time to go!"

Janus suddenly appeared in front of his nephew and Cynder.

"Take care of yourself nephew!" Janus said happily and slowly leaned close to Spyro and whispered. "And you found a pretty girl Spyro…take very good care of her…take that as advice from a family man."

Spyro nodded at his uncle. Slowly Janus leaned back and was about to leave the realm until Spyro asked.

"Wait…who is my mother?" Spyro asked quietly.

Janus looked at his nephew and smirked. "Now where would the fun be in telling you that nephew? But don't worry…she is very proud of you…as all of us First Dragons are."

Then, in a flash of Emerald Green light, the Dragon-God of Mischief had left the Dragon Realms…but not before his voice echoed. "THE DRAGON-GOD OF MISHCIEF HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!"

Cecil smiled and looked at Spyro.

"Did you enjoy the family reunion?" Cecil asked Spyro.

Spyro nodded. "It was…nice…though the way he jumped around would put Sparx to shame."

Cecil nodded and looked to the rest of the Guardians. "This meeting is adjourned…we'll continue tomorrow afternoon…good night everyone."

As everyone walked out of the council room, Spyro, cynder, Spes and Electra walked over to Tula, Mentem and Hera.

"So, what we miss?" Electra asked.

"Lord Cecil just gave The Gargoyles a voice in the council…it's nice really!" Tula said, looking at her older brother briefly. "Why didn't you tell me we have a Gargoyle in our circle of friend…you know how much I've always wanted to meet one!" She said happily.

Mentem smiled lightly while adjusting his hat. "I was going to get to that…"

Hera adjusted her glasses. "So…" The eledest dragon of the group asked. "You met the Dragon-God of Mischief himself…and Spyro's uncle is him…making him a grandchild of the Goddess…"

Everyone, minus Cynder, looked at Spyro, expecting an answer. Spes, Electra and Mentem especially wanted one…since even now they were still skeptical.

"uhh…" Spyro said, scratching the back of his head. He wished Cecil was still in the room. "We'll talk about it dinner…"

The others nodded and Tula was the first to talk. "Well…we haven't seen you since this morning…and it's like eight thirty in the evening…bet you guys are hungry huh?"

"Starved…" The four of them said.

With that, they made their way to the dining hall.

….

**Lumimyrsky:**

Oculos roamed the halls of a Forsworn safe house in the city of Lumimyrsky…it had been two years since he had left the city, after he had been exposed as a Forsworn leader and left the city when his status as General had been dropped…but that still didn't mean that he didn't have contacts in the city.

Lumimyrsky was considered by The Forsworn to be their capitol of influence in the Dragon Realms. Hell, if Oculos wanted to he could walk out in the middle of the streets and the city guard would not be able to touch him. Not that he needed the influence of The Forsworn to keep him safe. He wasn't in the city for no reason, he and Persephone and the rest of her Lieutenants had come to the city since it was one of the most secured holds on the world that the Forsworn had.

Oculos eventually made it to Persephone's personal quarters, he was about to knock on the door to have permission to come in, until he heard Persephone's voice.

"Enter, Oculos."

Oculos did so, not surprised that his leader sensed his presence. He opened the door and entered her quarters. Persephone's quarters was circular and near the back to flight of stairs that lead to a second floor, her bed room, the first floor was mainly her study…in the center of the room she even had a pool of visions.

When he entered, he saw Persephone sitting on a sitting pillow, her facing him while she looked down at the pool of visions, unlike the one in the temples that the Empire owned that were emerald green, this pool of visions was blood red and seemed to radiate a dark aura.

Oculos walked to the opposite side of the Pool of visions that Persephone was on, he placed his left forepaw over his chest and bowed his head.

"Persephone…" He said respectfully.

Persephone looked up at him with her crimson eyes and stood up.

"I'm leaving for Warfang…" She said. Oculos looked up at Persephone.

"Why go there?" He asked.

Persephone smirked, and held up her left forepaw. Suddenly, fear mana appeared over her palm.

"It's time I made an example of one of Spyro's friends…show him that no one is safe." She said. Oculos nodded, hitting the opponent where they live…a sound strategy.

"You're in command until I get back." Persephone said while she walked towards the door. But before she left, Oculos spoke.

"Be careful…" Oculos spoke, genuine concern evident in his tone. Persephone looked at Oculos and smiled while she walked up to him…and to Oculos' shock, she placed a paw over his cheek. Oculos struggled to keep a blush from forming.

Persephone smiled sincerely at her trusted second in command.

"I'll be fine." She said softly. Slowly, she turned around, and left the room…leaving Oculos alone.

Oculos slowly place one paw over the cheek that Persephone had touched…and closed his eyes.

He felt a…warmness inside him…something he hadn't felt in his life. Slowly, he left the room and immediately made his way to a pigeon coup…he knew Persephone would be alright on her own…but he wanted to be sure. He would send a pigeon to any Forsworn agents in the region close to Warfang, and perhaps they would be the common beggers in the region…

But slowly Oculos' mind began to think more of his mentor…since she had returned from her dormant sleep, he had felt different about her…what he felt, he had no idea. He didn't trust any of his subordinates with this information and he sure as hell would not ask the future "Guardians", he would rather go as far as asking a rat than trust his thoughts with those fools…he especially did not trust the fear dragon, Rädsla.

But right as he thought of the fear dragon, his thoughts were interrupted by the said dragon walking around a corner. The Death dragon starred at the fear dragon, who had an expressionless look on his face.

"Greetings, sir." The fear dragon said, seemingly respectfully.

Oculos merely nodded at the dragon, but continued to look at him with a look full of mistrust.

"Continue on with your duties, Rädsla." Oculos said, not even attempting to hide his dislike for the dragon.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me." The dragon said.

Oculos passed the fear dragon, but took a glance back at the fear dragon walked through the hall. Persephone assured him that she had the 'guardians' on a tight leash…he didn't doubt his leader's skills in manipulation…but he was not sure that the fear dragon was…a normal dragon that could be manipulated. Oculos shook the concern out of his head, and continued on.

**A/N: Oh...how right you are Oculos...how right you are...**


	16. Chapter 15: Electra's Fate

**Chapter 15: Electra's Fate**

**...**

**A/N: History of The Spectra Realms: _Alpha and Omega_**

**_Two legendary weapons, forged from the raw power of the Goddess herself and able to bond with it's wielder, these two weapons have been sought out by both the mortal and immortal races.  
_**

**...**

The next morning in Warfang, Electra was happily walking on an animal trial in the woods outside the great city. She often did this in the mornings because she liked nature and she liked to spend at least some time by herself.

Something seemed off however. The electric dragoness felt like she was being watched and she felt very tense. She reasoned to herself that it was just a curious animal and that it would go away soon.

After a few minutes of walking however, the snap of a twig was heard and Electra stopped in her tracks. She was now very worried and her yellow eyes darted around, trying to find the source of the noise.

"Who's out there!?" the dragoness called, worry evident in her voice.

At first, nothing happened, but after a long and tense wait, something jumped out of the bushes. Electra screamed and covered her face with her wings, but nothing happened. She slowly peeked out from between her legs, but she completely lowered her wings when she saw what had jumped her.

A cute little rabbit was staring at her with its beady eyes and it was eating a blade of grass. The dragoness sighed softly and her muscles relaxed when she realized that she was in no danger at all.

"Mr. Bunny, you really shouldn't sneak up on people." Electra scolded with a giggle, feeling silly for being scared of the harmless rabbit. "You're so cute." she commented with a big smile as she watched the fuzzy animal eat.

The rabbit raised single ear up before it turned around and hopped back into the bushes. The electric dragoness giggled at the creature and turned around to continue her walk. She stopped however and her eyes widened in fear when she saw Persephone standing directly in front of her.

"Hello, child. I believe that you are one of Spyro's friends." the evil dragoness greeted with a toothy grin, showing off her pearly white teeth.

Electra's legs began to tremble as she slowly took a step back, but when she did this, Persephone took a step closer. The younger dragoness felt complete fear as she stared at the leader of the Forsworn. What was she supposed to do about this? Should she fight or flee?

"Scared? I didn't even do anything to you yet." Persephone commented with a chuckle as she looked down at the electric dragoness.

Electra felt her heart sink when she said that. Now she knew that the Forsworn had it out for her in particular. She just couldn't understand why her of all people were being targeted. It was at that moment that she recalled what Nigromantii told her.

'You will suffer greatly.' she recalled the Necromancer telling her.

In a blind panic, Electra inhaled deeply and gathered her energy to use her element. Persephone realized this and quickly spun around, smacking the younger dragoness with her tail.

The electric dragoness yelped in pain as she stumbled onto her back. The dark dragoness smirked as Electra slowly stood up, only to be knocked down again by her attacker's tail again. Electra slowly tried to get up again, but she cried out in pain when she was punched in the shoulder by the larger dragoness.

Electra whimpered as she tried once more to get up, but her shaky limbs wouldn't let her. She gave up trying to get up and started to crawl away. Persephone calmly walked over to the fallen dragoness, forced her onto her back and grinned down at her.

"W-what do you w-want?" the electric dragoness stuttered as she looked up at her attacker's red eyes.

Instead of answering, Persephone held the younger dragoness down with three paws and punched in the young dragoness in the gut with her free paw. She gasped loudly from the attack, but the dark dragoness punched her in the same exact spot again.

Electra grunted, coughed, and cried as she was repeatedly punched in the belly over and over again. She tried desperately to squirm away, but Persephone held an iron grip and continued her ruthless assault. The electric dragoness found it hard to breathe as she was beated and her belly was now covered in dark bruises.

The punches kept coming and Electra could only let out choked out gurgling noises now. She had lost count how many punches she was forced to endure, but she felt like she was gonna throw up or black out at any moment.

Persephone finally stopped punching all of a sudden and she gave her victim a chance to catch her breath. Electra wheezed and coughed as she looked up at the black dragoness with terror in her eyes. She was scared for her life and she just wanted to disappear.

She was greatly shocked however when Persephone leaned in close to her face and gently kissed her on the nose. Her eyes widened from this and her attacker only smirked down at her.

"You're so… innocent." the dark dragoness commented with a chuckle, making Electra shiver in fear.

"P-p-please… don't h-hurt me anymore… please…." the electric dragoness begged with tear filled eyes as she trembled uncontrollably.

"Oh, I almost wish I could take you home with me… but I've already have a set plan." Persephone chuckled as she gently placed her right paw on the younger dragoness' forehead, making her whimper. "If it makes you any feel better, I'm not gonna hurt you physically anymore." she soothed as a crimson red aura enveloped her paw.

Electra gasped with wide eyes as the red aura began to seep into her scales and she started to feel a wave of dread and sadness envelope her. Her attacker leaned forward again once she stopped to flow of energy and kissed her nose again.

"Good night, my dear… because you'll need as much good thoughts as you can get." Persephone whispered in her ear hole with a dark grin.

That was the last thing Electra registered before everything went black.

….

Electra's eyes shot open and she gasped loudly as she sat up. She panted heavily with fear as she looked around, trying to find Persephone. She couldn't find the dragoness who attacked her however and her breathing slowed down to a normal rate.

The electric dragoness looked around again, but this time, she focused on the environment itself. She was in what appeared to be a cafeteria within a prison or insane asylum. The windows were barred so no one could escape, moldy food was left on the tables, the room itself was dark, and the place looked abandoned.

"Where… am I?" Electra asked quietly as she stood up and started walking around the room.

The claws at the end of her toes loudly clicked against the porcelain floor tiles as she walked and the area seemed too quiet. She decided to leave the eerie room and walked over to the double doors with an exit sign above it.

Electra slowly opened the door, but frowned when the doors led to a dark hallway that she couldn't even see the end of. She shivered because she didn't like being alone in dark places, but she knew that she needed to get out of wherever Persephone took her.

With a deep breath to ease her nerves, Electra started to walk down the dark hallway and into the unknown. The only sound that could be heard was her claws clicking against the floor with each step. She started to tense again as she walked down the hallway because she was expecting something to jump out at her. She almost wanted something to happen because absolutely nothing was happening and she felt like she wasn't making any progress.

After a whole minute of walking, which felt like an hour to her, she reached another door. She exhaled the breath she didn't know she was holding and opened the door. Her golden yellow eyes widened however, when she spotted a pair of angry red eyes within the pitch black room, but they disappeared as soon as she saw them.

'I don't wanna go in there!' the electric dragoness screamed in her head as her legs trembled.

There was nowhere else for her to go however, so she hesitantly walked in. She whimpered loudly as she looked around the pitch black room, but her tail bumped something on the wall. She stopped and slowly slid her tail against the wall and she felt a small switch.

Hoping that whatever the switch activated wouldn't hurt her, she flicked it up. It turned out to be a light switch and the room was lit up from a light bulb on the ceiling. She sighed in relief when she realized that there were no monsters in the room. The room she was in was a doctor's office. Like the cafeteria, it seems like the room was abandoned and messy.

"Don't turn around…" a very faint voice spoke right in the dragoness' earhole.

Electra let out a yelp and started trembling again, but she did as the voice said and didn't turn around. She listened carefully in case she heard the voice again, but there was only silence. Hesitantly, she slowly looked over to see… nothing.

There was nothing out of the ordinary behind her; just the rest of the office. Not wanting to spend another second in that room, she ran towards the door she entered, but there wasn't' a hallway anymore. She ran right into a freezer and the corpses of hairless ape-like creatures were hanging from meat hooks.

Electra was about to let out a scream, but she stopped herself when she heard footsteps within the room. She covered her mouth with her wings to keep quiet and she hid behind a few of the hanging bodies. She finally got the courage to see who was wandering around and her eyes widened in horror at what she saw…

...

Cecil sat in the Pool of Visions resting chamber within the temple of Warfang. Standing behind him were two Ice Dragon sentinels. He was deep in thought and allowing the Pool's magic to enhance his abilities to sense the aura's of living beings…with the Pool aiding this ability he, literally, could feel the aura's of every citizen in the city. For example, he sensed the young fire dragon, Blaze, walking with Tula and her adopted elder brother Mentem near the library of the Temple.

He sensed Spes on top of the Temple's highest tower. Luna and Hunter were near the southern most part of the city. The Guardians were all performing different tasks. He also sensed Spyro and Cynder in their chamber…Cecil merely smiled and focused on sensing the auras of everyone else in the city…but that's when he felt something wrong.

He sensed Electra, the electric dragoness who was a part of Spyro's group of friends, but she was in distress…he sensed her heart beat rising…she was in the middle of the forest surrounding Warfang…but that was not what only caused Cecil to worry, he sensed the remnants of Persephone's near Electra…and even inside her!

Cecil's eyes shot open. He immediately stood up and looked to his sentinels, who stood at the ready when they saw the blind Prophet stand up in a start.

"Find one of Spyro's friends! Tell them that their friend, Electra, is in danger! Go with them to the forest! GO!" Cecil exclaimed urgently.

The sentinels nodded, not questioning the prophet's orders.

Cecil slowly turned back to the pool of visions and rubbed his eyes. He pitied the young dragoness…if Persephone was involved…then Electra was not well…

….

Hera, Spes, Spyro and Cynder were guided by the two Sentinels that were sent to retrieve them and inform them that Electra was in danger. Spyro and Cynder had been in their room when the two Sentinels told them the news. Spes and Hera were informed as the couple and their escorts were leaving the temple.

The six dragons landed on the forest floor, they heard a screaming from the distance, which they realized was Electra's. The landed close to Electra's location and ran the rest of the way. When they reached the clearing…they found Electra laying on the ground, squirming and screaming.

Hera immediately ran to the unconscious electric dragoness. She quickly took off her glasses and placed her ear over Electra's chest, hearing her heart beating beyond the speed it should be beating. Her temp was dropping severely.

"Damn..." Hera swore. She turned to the sentinels. "One of you head to the infirmary and request Doctor Halloway! Tell her that we need a room ready, we need red and blue spirit gems!"

One of the sentinels nodded and quickly flew off.

Hera turned to Cynder.

"Cynder come over here." Hera said. Cynder quickly ran over to Hera and the whimpering Electra. "I need you to help synthesize a poison that will calm her vitals, if we don't, she will die before we can get her to the infirmary and give her proper treatment."

Cynder nodded. "What do we need?" She asked.

"You watch over her," She said. "I'll find the required flowers, you and Spyro look after her, and Spyro." She turned to the purple dragon. "Her body temperature is running low, focus your body heat in your paws to a calm warmth, that way you can bring her temp to a safe level."

Spyro nodded and kneeled next to his unconscious friend. He focused the heat in his paws and placed them over her chest and head.

"You'll be alright Electra…" Spyro said, trying to not only assure the unconscious dragon, but also himself.

...

Electra stared at a hairless ape creature, like the ones hanging from the meat hooks, but this one was different. There was one of the hairless ape creatures wandering around, but this one was a lot more muscular than the dead ones hanging on the meat hooks.

This creature was wearing black cargo pants and heavy work boots. It didn't look like it was wearing a shirt, but it was wearing a bloodstained apron however. A spherical helmet made of iron was also covering the creature's entire head. Last and most disturbing, long strings of barbed wire were jutting out of the monster's skin and the wires were whipping around in random directions.

'What is that thing!' the electric dragoness screamed in her head.

She didn't want to risk fighting the creature because she had no idea how well of a fight it could put up, but she was also terrified at the moment. She concluded that the best way to handle the situation would be to sneak around the monster and get to the door she could just barely see on the other side of the room.

"I hope that… thing… can't see through that helmet." the dragoness murmured as she took a single step into the open when the creature turned its back to her.

Electra silently walked around the hanging bodies and towards where she thought the exit was. She could hear the monster's thumping footsteps throughout the whole ordeal, but she knew that she couldn't waste any time.

The electric dragoness found it more and more difficult to tell where she was going exactly because of all the hanging bodies around her and she let out a loud whimper when she looked at their faces full of anguish.

'Oh no, did it hear me?" Electra thought to herself and she stopped walking all of sudden.

The footsteps didn't stop or halter however. It was as if it didn't hear her at all.

'Maybe it's deaf because of that helmet. If that's the case, then maybe it won't see me either.' she concluded in her head.

Electra started walking like normal and was relieved when the monster didn't hear her footsteps. She let out a gasp of fear however when she saw it walk out of the darkness and towards her general direction. It didn't appear to see her however and it looked like it was still wandering around.

Convincing herself that she could move around it, the electric dragoness shakily pressed herself against the wall of dead bodies and hoped that the creature would simply walk past her. The monster appeared to be doing just that and it walked right past her without stopping. She sighed in relief and started to walk towards where she thought the exit was again, but she stopped when she felt the end of her tail nudge the creature's ankle.

The creature let out a pained moan when it was touched and the barbed wires began to whip around much more furiously than before. Electra started to breathe heavily with wide eyes as it slowly turned around to face her general direction and it started walking towards her.

The electric dragoness let out a fearful scream as she spun around and started running away, pushing the bodies out of the way with her wings as she did so. She kept on running with the monster stumbling after her with terror. She'd rather be at Persephone's mercy again than be in this hell.

Fortunately, she spotted the exit and sprinted towards it as fast as her shaky legs could go. She spotted the exit not too far from her, but she knew that the barbed wire monster was right behind her. Once she reached the exit, she used all of her might to burst through the door and then everything went silent.

Breathing heavily from the use of adrenaline and fear, Electra slowly turned around to see if she was still being chased, but the door that she just went through wasn't there anymore and the monster was gone.

"W-what…? There was a-a-a door right there…" the electric dragoness just barely managed to say as she backed away from the door.

She screamed loudly when she bumped into someone and she turned around to see who it was. Electra's eyes widened in absolute horror and confusion as she saw… herself. She saw herself standing in front of her, but this version of her looked like a walking corpse.

The other version of had much paler scales than normal and she was covered in lacerations. Her eyes were also pitch black and empty.

The dark version of Electra tackled the real Electra to the ground all of a sudden and screamed in her face. The real Electra screamed as well as the corpse pinned her down and they both screamed at the top of their lungs.

….

After Hera synthesized the serum, Cynder and Spes quickly flew Electra to the infirmary. When they reached the temple, Electra was taken immediately to the infirmary. When they reached the infirmary, Doctor Halloway, a poison Dragoness who was Hera's second in command of the Medic Corps, helped Hera put the unconscious dragoness on a bed. Spyro, Cynder and Spes were joined by Tula, Blaze, Mori and Mentem and four other dragons that Spyro and Cynder didn't recognize.

"Shit…her vitals are rising…" Doctor Halloway said urgently to her superior.

"We need to stabilize them…" Hera responded and yelled to three moles. "Where are those damn crystals!"

"Here ma'am!" A mole said, bringing a blue spirit gem.

Hera quickly put the jewel over Electra's forehead. The gem glowed blue, trying to calm Electra's mind…however…a dark aura appeared around the gem, and the gem shattered.

"What?!" Hera said, shocked. "This…" Hera began…walking back, shocked. "Can't be…the gem isn't working!"

"What else can you do?!" Tula said, walking up to Electra's side. "There has to be something!"

"The…blue spirit gems…" Halloway said shock evident in her voice. "Is the only way to snap a dragon out of a trance this severe…but…this isn't natural."

Electra let out a loud blood curdling scream and began to shake violently.

Hera removed her glasses…realizing there was nothing that she or anyone else could do. But that's when she noticed Spyro looking down at his unconscious friend…suddenly, his irises shifted from purple to a spectrum of colors.

"No…" Spyro said, his voice…different. The others turned to him and saw him step forward. "She won't die like this." Spyro said, but while he spoke, it was if there was someone else speaking through him as well…

Spyro slowly walked up to Electra's bed side and placed his right forepaw over Electra's forehead…suddenly his paw glowed a spectrum of colors and suddenly a crimson energy of Fear mana appeared over Electra's head…the aura around Spyro's soon touched Electra's forehead, over taking the fear mana…soon, Electra's breathing lowered to normal and her heart beat lowered to a healthy pace. Electra began to stop squirming and her sobs turned into soft whimpers.

Suddenly, in a split second, Electra's eyes opened and Electra bolted up right, gasping for air, and sobbing.

"Electra!" Tula yelled, hugging her best friend. "I'm right here…I'm right here sister…we're all here."

Electra then burst into tears and cried into her best friend's shoulder. Everyone sighed in relief, seeing Electra had survived…

For five minutes Electra cried, explaining in between sobs what had happened. How Persephone attacked her, beat her…and sent her into a nightmare world, one where everything seemed almost too real.

Another five minutes passed, Hera gave the traumatized dragoness a sedative so she could sleep. To keep the traumatized Dragoness some company; her oldest friends Tula, Blaze, Mentem and Spes stayed by her side.

….

**Council room: mid night**

Cecil sat in his chair in the council room. Pyra, Cyril, Typhoon, Skyress, Terrador and Volteer were with him. Spyro and Cynder stood with Hera as she addressed the council about Electra's current status.

"She suffered much stress while under the effects of the dream world…it's left her mind wounded and fragile…when we try to give her food and brink, she refuses it and we have to almost coax it to her." Hera said, while taking her glasses off and wiping a stray tear. "Several times she even tried to kill herself an hour after she woke up. We now have her under 24/7 watch with her parents visiting everyday…"

Every Guardian in the room was silent, but their eyes confirmed that they pitied the traumatized Dragoness.

"Poor dear…" Pyra said quietly.

"No one that young should go through such…trauma." Volteer said sadly…for once…he didn't even know what to say.

Cecil held his paws together while he thought.

"Back during the first war with the Forsworn…" Cecil began. "Persephone used an unnatural ability to send some one's mind into a nightmare world…where it seemed all too real…where every wound would feel too real. Very few survived the experience…but those who did were left mentally torn." Cecil's eyes opened and looked to Spyro. "The Goddess' Peace was used by the First Dragons as a way to bring the victim's mind back to reality…but the memories still lingered…not even our greatest psychologists could bring their minds back to normal…I…lost my mother, Katrina, to Persephone's ability…when I was only three."

Cecil paused. "But…there was one Dragoness who knew how to counsel the victims who survived the aftermath of the ability…though she couldn't make it to all of them…she still saved countless lives…" Cecil looked to Empress Emera's empty throne. "That Dragoness…was Empress Emera."

Everyone looked at the blind prophet. The prophet looked to Spyro.

"Spyro, you and all of your allies will leave tomorrow aboard the ship called 'The Ghost of Ventus' you will travel to the islands of the Ancient Water Dragon clans and seek out their patron, the First Dragon named Elena, one of your aunts." Cecil said. "If there is any way to find Empress Emera and help Electra recover, then Lady Elena is our only hope in finding Empress Emera…"

Spyro nodded.

"Get some rest, all of you." Typhoon said as he stood. "I will send messenger bird to contact the Captain of The Ghost of Ventus."

Spyro, Cynder and Hera nodded and left the room to inform their friends to rest up…because now…they were about to enter a race against time.


	17. Chapter 16: The Dragon clan

**Chapter 16: The Dragon clan**

...

_Dear Little Sister,_

_I'm sorry that I haven't been able to write to you in awhile. I've been very busy lately. A lot has happened since I last wrote to you. I've gotten an interesting job to my liking and I'm mated with a dragon with particular interesting tastes. He's so handsome and nice; a little on the big side, but nice all the same. There's some other nice things I can say about him, but that's something that probably shouldn't be mentioned in a letter… if you know what I mean. I just wish that you were here with me, but I know that you're a busy dragoness and you have things to do. Well, this letter has gotten long enough. I look forward to writing you again. _

_Love,_

_Big Sister_

Hera concluded reading the letter from her childhood friend, whom was a older sister figure to her back when she was a Alchemist in training. Hera smiled as she finished reading and looked out the window of her quarters, a medium sized room that had a bookcase on the right wall along with a alchemy table next to the bookshelf. She also had a small bed on the left of the room, which also seemed to have a lot of books scattered on the bed, showing how Hera is a big reader.

Hera took out a piece of parchment and a feather quill, dipped the quill in ink and began to write her response to her 'older sister'.

_Dear Big sister,_

_It's nice to hear from you now that the war against the ape's and Malefor is over. I'm glad to know that you are well and have found a good job that fits your skills and I'm also happy that you've found a mate. But I'm curious, you mentioned your mate had 'interesting tastes', perhaps you could elaborate a little the next time you write back. But I'm glad that your relationship is good. It's been strange here in Warfang for the past few weeks. The repairs to the city are going well now that the war is over. I recently got back from Tall Plains…I'm restricted to telling anyone outside of my friends and the Guardian Council about my activities, but I've made two new friends; the Heroes of Warfang themselves: Spyro and Cynder. Can you believe it? But now things also seem stressful…now that the Forsworn have come back. Their leader; Persephone, recently attacked a friend of mine, Electra. Right now she is suffering from Traumatic stress…I'm leaving today with Spyro and the rest of my friends to help assist in her recovery. _

_I apologize for the lengthy letter, but I just wanted to let you know I've been doing fine. I miss you greatly, I still remember those times you looked after me and protected me from bullies. Perhaps we could meet sometime the next time you're in Warfang, I'd love to see you again and I'd like to meet your mate. I have to go. Talk to you later._

_Love,_

_Little Sister_

Hera finished writing the letter and put it in an envelope and finally put a wax seal over the envelope. Hera looked at the letter briefly and smiled, remembering the good memories she had. She would send the letter by bird as she left for the port town just outside of Warfang.

Slowly, the poison dragoness stood up from her desk and left her room so she could meet with the rest of her friends…and hopefully save their friend…

…..

**Port Harmony: Port town just outside of Warfang. **

Spyro and Cynder were the first to reach the docks of the port town. Soon, Tula, Spes, Mentem, Hera, Mori, Soturi (who wanted to come since he had a few 'questions' for the First Dragon Elena) and Blaze arrived…along with a shadow dragon, Rock Dragon, Sand dragoness and Wind Dragoness who the couple had seen in Electra's room the other day.

"Hello!" The wind dragoness said happily.

"uhh…hi." Cynder said at the seemingly overly cheerful dragoness.

The dragoness was about to say more to the two heroes until the rock dragon stepped in.

"Sorry about Ven…she's overly hyper…but very kind…a little too kind sometimes." The rock dragon said, introducing the wind dragoness now identified as Ven. The rock dragon continued. "My name is Terra, this is Rene, my little sister." Gesturing the young sand dragoness, who nodded with a smile. "And this is Artrium." He said gesturing the silent shadow dragon.

"Nice to meet you," Spyro said with a nod. "You're all friends of Electra's two?"

"Yeah," Rene said calmly. "We've been friends with her for a longtime…it's only right that we help."

Artrium nodded at this. Spyro noticed that the shadow dragon hadn't said anything.

Rene noticed this. "Artrium can't talk…he's mute. Though Electra and I seem to know what he means."

Spyro nodded. "So…look like it's all hands on deck for this."

Right as Spyro said that, Blaze said. "Guys, looks like we've found our ship."

The group all looked out at the docks to see a giant ship sail through the water…it had several masts and had the image of a grey dragon on the main mast. The ship also had blue and dark grey colors on the haul.

"The ghost of ventus…" Mentem said while adjusting his hat. "Long time since it's ever been in Imperial Waters…"

"What's the ship meant for?" Spyro asked, looking at the fear dragon.

"The ship was used during the first war against the Forsworn…Empress Emera personally watched it's construction, supposedly along with your 'uncle' Ventus." Mentem said. "Which the stories say he is The Dragon-God of Wind and the patron to sailors with a good cause…so the stories say."

Spyro nodded. "So their patron is one of my uncles…"

Mentem nodded. "Well, lets hope they can help us out and get us to the Dragon clans without any unwanted problems…"

As the ship got closer and closer to the docks, Spyro began to feel slight excitement…he was going to be searching for not only going to meet his aunt, a first dragon named Elena…but hopefully he was going to meet his Aunt Emera…who he learned recently was not only the Empress of the Empire…but also the Dragon-Goddess of the Afterlife, she helped Spectra maintain the Afterlife. Hopefully…once he met his two aunts, they'd tell him who his mother was…and bring him closure.

...

The Ghost of Ventus docked at Warfang's harbor and a ramp was lowered so people on the dock board the ship's deck or vice versa. The large group looked at one another before they each boarded the ship one by one.

When they were all on board, the group could see that the ship's crew consisted of a large amount of pirates. The pirates' races were wolves, moles, cheetahs and various other races. They were each armed with swords or axes and some of them even had crossbows.

"These see like your kind of people, Mentem." Terra whispered to the fear dragon, making him chuckle.

The group's attention focused on a single pirate who was walking up to them. This particular pirate was an ape with dark brown fur and blue eyes. He wore a black vest made from leather, a black belt, and an eye patch was over his left eye. A sawtooth sword could also be seen strapped to his belt. Lastly, he wore a black tricorn hat that looked very similar to Mentem's.

"Ahoy, mates. You must be the group that Cecil mentioned in his letter. Welcome to the Ghost of Ventus." the ape pirate greeted with a small grin.

"Who are you?" Cynder asked with a raised eyebrow, not sure if they could trust the ape.

"Captain Morgan, at your service." The ape introduced with a slight bow. "I've heard much from each of you… especially Mentem." he added with an even bigger smile than before.

"If you know who we are, then I guess that you know why we're here." Spyro spoke up, wanting to talk about the task at hand.

"Yes, yes, I know what happened to your electric lady friend. I can take you to Lady Emera, but it's quite a journey from here. Are ye all ready to go?" the captain asked them all.

He received nods form everyone in the group and he led them to the back of the ship, where the wheel was.

"Set sails and get me a bottle o' rum!" the ape boomed and the crew immediately attended to their duties.

The group watched with interest as the ramp was pulled away from the dock and the sails were lowered. Within moments, the giant ship was steered towards the open ocean and the wind allowed them to travel forward. As the group looked out at the scenery with amazement, a wolf ran up to Captain Morgan, gave him a bottle of rum, and ran off.

"Now lads, I only have one rule for you to follow. Don't EVER touch me rum. If you do, I'll have you keelhauled." the ape told them all before he took a swig from the bottle.

"Duly noted." Hera replied awkwardly and they looked out at sea again.

"It's nice to be back at sea again." Mentem mumbled with a smile under his tricorn hat.

Cynder smiled too because she overheard him say that. It amazed her that after everything she did to him when she was evil, he was able to move on and become the dragon he is today. She couldn't even begin to imagine how he turned from an innocent slave to one of the most infamous pirates in the Dragon Realms. Even Janus, a Dragon God, knew about him and his accomplishments. She wondered if any of the other Gods or Spectra herself knew about him.

On another part of the ship, Soturi was looking out at sea without anyone near him. He held a heavy frown under his hood because he felt like a third wheel. He was so different from everyone there and he just wanted to be alone.

The gargoyle groaned when one of the pirates approached him. The pirate was obviously drunk because he was stumbling.

"Aren't yoush hoot wearin dat cloak?" the pirate slurred with a belch at the end.

"No." the Gargoyle answered emotionlessly.

"Yesh you arz… let me helps youz out." The drunken pirate offered before he reached forward and lowered his hood.

The entire crew stopped what they were doing when they noticed that Soturi's hood was down. They weren't expecting one of their passengers to be a Gargoyle.

"Why are you staring at the poor bloke for? Get back to work and leave him in peace! If you have a problem with a Gargoyle being on the ship, then you shouldn't have an ape for a captain!" Captain Morgan yelled and his crew immediately got back to work.

Soturi looked at the ape pirate with wide eyes. He wasn't expecting him of all people to come to his defense. People in his own group probably wouldn't' have stood up for him like that. He nodded in thanks and the ape gave him the thumbs up hand signal.

"Well, that happened." Rene commented with a chuckle, causing the others to laugh.

"Yeah… so Captain Morgan. I know that you're pirates, but Cecil seemed to trust you guys quite a bit. Why is that?" Mentem asked as he and Spyro walked over to the ape.

"We be pirates, yes… but we also work for the Empire. I'm not a religious ape, but Spectra and the other First Dragons need my help, so I help 'em." Captain Morgan replied as he steered the ship.

"You don't honestly believe that their Gods, do you?" Mentem asked with a groan.

"Oh no, no I don't. There people like you and me. There just some very powerful dragons, that's all. Don't worry, you won't find any religious crap on my ship." the ape captain assured.

"This is quite the ship you have." Spyro commented politely as he looked around the ship.

"Thank ye, Spyro. That means a lot coming from you." Captain Morgan replied with a chuckle. "Hey, do you know how us pirates entertain ourselves?" he asked the purple dragon and the fear dragon smiled widely.

"Um… how?" Spyro asked curiously, wondering what was going through the two pirates' minds.

The ape stood tall and cleared his throat. Mentem puffed his chest out a little and inhaled deeply.

"Do what you want. 'Cause a pirate is Free! You are a pirate!" the fear dragon boomed so that everyone on board could hear him.

"Yar har, fiddle di dee! Being a pirate is all right with me!" the pirates sang loudly. "Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free! You are a pirate! Yo ho, ahoy and avast! Being a pirate is really badass! Hang the black flag at the end of a mast! You are a pirate!" they continued singing.

"You are a pirate! – Yay!"Captain Morgan cheered happily as he rested his arm on Mentem's shoulders.

The group watched with wide eyes as the pirates sang their song and sailed the ship.

...

The Ghost of Ventus sailed for about two days, which according to Captain Morgan, would be the same amount of days that would be needed to travel to the islands of the Water Dragon Clans. Each of the group were doing various things to keep themselves occupied. But the one who was proble doing the most work of the group was Hera, who now at the highest part of the day, was down below deck pounding several herbs into a mixture.

As she did that, Spyro and Cynder walked passed her to see what she was doing.

"Hey Hera…what are you doing?" Spyro asked, walking over to Hera. Who held up a paw and raised her index talon.

"Can't talk…to sick…" Hera said, her voice heavy…she was not used to spending too much time on a ship…she never liked travelling by ship.

She then finished pounding the mixture and poured it into a mug of cold water and quickly drank it down. Hera then rested her head on the ground.

"Ohhhh…" Hera muttered. "So much better…"

Cynder walked up to Hera and patted her shoulder. Hera then lifted her head and let out a deep sigh of relief. Slowly she turned to the two of them.

"I hate being on ships…I prefer being in the air…but since it takes too long to fly the Dragon Clans, no point in arguing."

"By the way," Spyro began. "Who are the Dragon Clans anyways?"

Hera adjusted her glasses. "They were the original society of dragons before the Monarchy of High Dragon King Pegasus the seventh…long story short, the dragons who wanted to modernize their society left their respected clans and joined in forming a powerful government…however that government fell apart when the Pegasus line limited the freedoms of it's citizens…then when the monarchy fell, Empress Emera appeared and gave EVERY race a chance to be a part of the Empire, compared to what the Pegasus line did, who just let Dragons rule over the other races, who still revered the dragons despite the monarchy's abuse of power.

"The Dragon clans all have different life styles, for example, some of the Earth Dragon clans prefer to live in one spot a long time, while most the desert clans prefer a nomadic life style. They have different languages and different cultures, but their belief in The Goddess is technically the same in terms of that they believe to honor the Goddess' peaceful nature. Empress Emera viewed that it was also The Empire's duty to protect that Dragon clans, since every dragon can trace his or hers lineage to the clans."

"That's…amazing." Spyro said.

"Yes…" Hera began. "But the clans also suffered great losses during the war with the apes…so now many clans are still in the process of rebuilding."

Cynder nodded, vaguely remembering "Campaigns" against the clans…she remembered that she had taken part in the killing of an entire village…something she wishes to forget.

"Thanks for the information Hera." Spyro said, smiling. Hera nodded while lying down.

Hera then quietly said as the couple left "Now…I'm going to try and get some sleep before I have another nausea attack…"

…

Hours later, the Ghost of Ventus neared land.

When one of the crew members called out that there was land ahead, Spyro, Cynder, Tula and Mentem looked out at the side of the ship, to see an island vastly coming into view, but was mainly covered with fog cover.

"Captain Morgan says we'll need to fly to the island." Mentem said to the others. "The Dragon Clans and Emera made a law when the Empire was formed that any non-dragon ships approaching their islands must not come within certain yards of the island…since the Clans are not that trusting of none dragons."

"What about Soturi?" Tula asked. "They proble won't like that fact that a non-dragon is coming onto their land…"

"Gargoyles are technically cousins to the Dragon race." Mentem said. "Plus…when they see Spyro, they'll know he's a 'descendent' of their goddess…so they should let him and the rest of us pass."

Cynder raised an eyebrow. "You sure that will work? It doesn't seem right that we'd be using Spyro's heritage as an advantage."

"Well what do you think Spyro?" Mentem asked Spyro. But Spyro didn't respond, he was looking at the island in the distance…his eyes seemed blank. "Hey? Spyro?"

Spyro's eyes blinked briefly and he looked at the others.

"Sorry…I…feel as though I've been here…" He said while rubbing his head. "Don't know why…"

Cynder looked at her mate with concern.

"How so?" She asked.

"Not sure…just feels familiar." Spyro answered. He looked at the island once more and then to the others. "Let's find the others…and set off."

...

The Ghost of Ventus had dropped anchor out at sea so they wouldn't threaten the clan. As they waited for word of how to get to Emera; Spyro, Cynder, Tula, Mentem, Spes, and Soturi were flying towards the island to meet Elena.

The group of six landed on the sandy beach bordering the ocean and they noticed a bunch of water dragons staring at them. The water dragons were about to attack the group, but they immediately stopped when they noticed Spyro himself was with the group.

"One of Spectra's descendents is upon us. Let them go where they please." a male water dragon spoke and the would-be attackers backed off.

"Well, that went well." Spes commented as the group awkwardly walked past the water dragons and towards a village that was near the beach.

Soturi was greatly surprised that the dragons of the clan didn't try to attack him or insult him in any way because he's a Gargoyle, but he remembered that Spyro told him that the water dragon clan didn't have any ill feelings towards Gargoyles. He found this very strange considering his experiences with dragons in the past, but he didn't voice his concerns and kept his head down as he followed the rest of the group.

When the group walked into the village, they noticed that the villagers were mostly speaking a different language and that they lived in a very tribalistic society; not that dissimilar from Soturi's village. Some of the water dragons were speaking in modern draconic, but not many of them. All of the water dragons noticed the group immediately and one of the larger ones approached the group.

"Are you looking for Elena?" the large water dragon questioned with a deep voice.

"Yes, we are. Can you take us to her?" Spyro replied and asked politely, trying not to act disrespectful in any way.

The large water dragon nodded and turned around. The group followed him deeper into the village until they came upon a hut that was slightly larger than the others. They walked up the path that led to the front door before the water dragon stopped and looked at the group.

"This is Elena's home. Just knock on the door and wait for her to answer or call you in." he told them before he started to walk away.

"Thank you!" Cynder called to their guide and he waved one of his wings at them without looking back.

The group then looked at the door and they were pondering who should be the one to knock. Soturi was growing tired of the pointless waiting, so he walked up to the door and knocked three times.

...

"Come…" A Dragoness' voice answered after Soturi knocked.

Spyro sighed lightly, ready to meet his aunt. The group pushed the door open, and entered the hut. When they did, they saw a dragoness inside the hut, sitting in front of a fire pit, lightly prodding at the coals. She was an Indigo colored Dragoness; she had several black tribal tattoos over her body, each resembling a dragon. Her eyes seemed to almost glow an amethyst color.

She looked up at her visitors and smiled lightly as she stood.

"So…after long last, one of my nephews has arrived…and it's Spyro..." Elena said, smiling. Slowly she walked up to the group and towards Spyro and she slowly wrapped her wings around her nephew and hugged him. "Oh…your Uncle Janus constantly talked about meeting you a few days ago…it seems he wasn't lying."

Spyro smiled and enjoyed the hug of his aunt.

"It's nice to meet you…Aunt Elena." Spyro said. Elena smiled and slowly broke the hug. She looked at Cynder.

"So…Cynder…I've heard much about you…though the good easily outweighs the bad." Elena said. "My brothers and sisters are proud of you, for assisting our nephew in his fight, and for showing your desire for redemption…which you achieved."

Cynder smiled; glad to know that one of the First Dragons was impressed with her want for redemption.

Elena looked at Tula, Mentem, Spes and Soturi and raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting group you travel with nephew…" Elena said. "While the young water Dragoness's was of this clan…"

"Wait! You knew my mom!" Tula asked, surprised.

"Of course…" Elena said, smiling. "You are her spitting image. I was actually one of the midwives of your grandmother, I helped give birth to your mother…and I also witnessed her growth…she was a beautiful Dragoness…eager to learn the different cultures of the world. I am sorry that she is gone…

"How did you…" Tula began, but paused while looking at the dirt floor.

Elena slowly motioned them to sit down.

"I am a Bai-Chi…" Elena explained.

"A Bai what?" Mentem asked.

"A Bai-Chi…one who can communicate with the dead." Elena answered. "I, along with Emera and three others of my sisters, were born with a unique ability to tap into the realm of the dead, and speak with them…while most of the First dragons, my brothers and sisters, can go to the Afterlife physically, I and the other four Bai-Chi and speak with the dead…and summon their spirits to the mortal realm."

"A necromancer…" Soturi growled. "You dare interfere with the Spirits of the dead! Abusing their bodies!"

Elena looked in the young Gargoyle's direction, her amethyst eyes glowing dangerously.

"Do not accuse me of being one of those foolish and disrespectful mages CHILD. You may be a century years old and have seen many hardships, but despite my appearance of looking like a young adult Dragoness, I have easily outlived your entire elder's combined. Do not accuse me of disrespecting the dead!" Elena growled. The gargoyle, and the other dragons, shivered lightly…they'd never seen a dragoness…be so angry. But Spes decided to push the subject.

"I doubt it that you've lived that long…let alone being 'immortal' as the stories say." The veteran soldier said. Elena smirked.

"Oh, I know of your history, Spes." Elena said, catching the ice dragon off guard from a dragoness he'd never met knowing his name. "How you were tortured and given that brand…you lost faith in my mother, Spectra…believing that she let you be tortured. But if you knew the truth about what my mother is doing while we speak…then you would realize she never brought harm on you…and to prove my immortality…I will do so willingly."

Slowly, Elena looked at Soturi.

"Your knife…how sharp is it?" Elena asked. Soturi eyed the First Dragon.

"Sharp enough to shred my opponent." Soturi answered. Elena held her paw out, Soturi, realizing what she meant, tossed it to her.

Slowly, Elena raised the knife to her neck.

"Aunt Elena!" Spyro said, scared for his aunt's life. The others stood up, not wanting to the Dragoness to do what they thought she was going to do and plus the fact that she was the only one who knew where Emera was…and that without Emera, Electra would surely die!

But it was too late, Elena moved the blade of the knife across her throat, they saw it happen…but what followed next shocked them all. Elena dropped the blade, it lay on the ground…not a single drop of blood littered the blade. They looked at Elena's throat…and there was no wound.

Elena smirked as she stood up, sensing Mentem and Spes' hesitation.

"Feel my throat." Elena said. They did so…her throat was fine…solid, she was not a ghost…she was real…the knife somehow…wasn't able to harm her. Elena walked over to the far side of her hut. "Due to me being one of my mother's children…we inherited her immortality and immunity to being harmed."

"So…you all are…" Spes began.

Elena nodded, knowing his question. "every first Dragon cannot be killed…we all have isolated ourselves from mortal kinds to protect them…since we are aware our loyalty to our mother could cause friction with mortal behavior…if there were to be a war…it would end tragically for the mortals."

Elena slowly sat back down near the fire pit and glanced at the group in front of her.

"But…you are not here to listen to the history of my mother or my siblings…you are seeking Emera?" Elena asked, the group nodded. She sighed. "Persephone…using **that** ability on a young dragoness…such as your friend Electra…is out of line…I have not spoken to my elder sister, Emera, in centuries…but I do know of a way to communicate with her. Though it will take time for me to establish a connection…but do not worry, I will contact her, and she will come when she is ready."

Elena paused, looking at Spyro.

"There is something that is troubling you, nephew?" Elena asked. Spyro nodded.

"You said…you could communicate with the dead…right?" The purple dragon asked. Elena nodded. "Back when Cynder and I went through the belt of fire to confront Malefor…Ignitus, my mentor…and my father figure, sacrificed himself to allow us to go through the flames…" Spyro paused, a stray tear rolling down his cheek. He looked up at the Bai-Chi. "I would…like to speak to him."

Elena simply starred at her young nephew and closed her eyes. Cynder placed her paw over his left shoulder and they both waited.

"Spyro…" Elena said, finally. "I'm afraid…I cannot speak to someone…who is not in the Afterlife…"

"What?" Spyro asked, his mind running wild now…he heard what Elena said…but the flashbacks of Ignitus being succumb by the flames made him doubt.

Elena leaned forward.

"I will not tell you the details of how he survived, but I will leave you with this…Ignitus was and is the master of flames…do you really think he would die in his birth element?"

Spyro looked at the ground, he was considering what his aunt told him…what she said made sense in a way…though he didn't understand…if Ignitus was truly alive…then why would he not reveal himself yet.

"Do not worry, Spyro." Elena said softly. "Ignitus will reveal himself…in time…but he has a duty he himself must attend to."

Elena then looked at Soturi and said. "You, Soturi, I assume you've come here for more...personal reasons aside from helping the young dragoness...I already know your question, tell me...why do you and your people resent my mother?"

Soturi eyed Elena, a deep rooted anger seemingly rising, but was being pushed down as best he could.

"We resent her because she turned her back on us when we needed her most. She encouraged dragons to hate our kind and take away our culture." Soturi paused, his voice slowly rising. "She doesn't care about us despite everything we did to please her. My people and I will never forgive that hypocrite."

"Hypocrite you say?" Elena began, her anger being suppressed, everyone could feel a wave of anger radiate off of the immortal Dragoness. "I find that ironic really. Since her reason for not interfering with mortal affairs is so great, that you and your friends would not be here right now. Tell me, what if I told you she had a duty herself, one where if she were to drop for even a SECOND then not only your people, but every single race, would be dead."

Soturi suddenly stood up and now stood at a mere inches from Elena's face. Elena's expression remained emotionless as Soturi continued to speak. "Unless I see this for myself, I will call her whatever I damn well please. She is a hypocrite and a religious tyrant. And you're just as bad as her in my eyes."

Soturi then began to leave the hut, but Elena said one final word in the Gargoyle language.

_"I will not attempt to change your perception of my mother, but I will say these final words before your leave…if my mother truly hated your race…why would she give you the ability to be immune to poisons and illnesses…and the ability to use your poisons to not only use in combat, but to heal. If she truly hated you, why would she make your race one of the most resourceful?"_

Soturi paused briefly…but slowly exited the hut. Spyro sighed and shook his head lightly. Elena looked at Spyro.

"I will contact Emera…I don't know when she will arrive, but she will try to return to the realms." Elena said. Slowly, she stood up. "I must ask you to leave now nephew…I need to leave."

Spyro nodded. Before anyone knew what happened, Elena vanished in a flash of indigo light, much like Janus did with the emerald colored light.

Spyro and the others glanced at one another, but then left the hut.

…..

It didn't take long for the group to pack up and leave the Water Dragon Clan, some of the clan bid Spyro and his allies goodbye as they flew back to The Ghost of Ventus. When they arrived on deck, Soturi was already heading to the lower decks. Mori approached Spyro and Cynder.

"So…how'd it go? Is Emera going to come?" The earth dragoness asked.

Cynder nodded. "Yeah, she'll be here as soon as she can…Electra's going to be alright."

The others sighed with relief. Hera approached Spyro and Cynder.

"Captain Morgan is going to take us to the desert islands of the Empire…we just received a messenger bird…Lord Cecil says there is something happening in the Desert of Noctis…"

Spyro nodded. "Alright…then Warfang can wait."

Spyro then turned around and looked over the railing as the ship began to leave the view of the island. Slowly, Spyro closed his eyes, thinking about what his aunt told him…Ignitus…was alive? Spyro opened his eyes and slowly turned and walked away with Cynder to the lower deck.

….

The ship was called "The Black Blade" a Forsworn ship that was used for all kinds of naval warfare…it was rumored to be equal in speed and armor to that of the Ghost of Ventus.

Aboard the ship, was a Poison dragoness (whom was accompanying the crew to intercept the Ghost of Ventus) she sat bellow the deck, and was reading a letter, as she read it she merely smiled as she took a quill and jotted a few things down on a piece of parchment. She then put the parchment away inside her desk and began to walk towards the stairs to take her above deck.

As she did, many of the Forsworn crew briefly nodded at her or saluted at her.

The poison dragoness looked out at the open sea and she smirked.

Orm wasn't one for being on ships, but this…was an exception. After all, she was about to have a friendly reunion after all.


	18. Chapter 17: The Ghost and The Blade

**Chapter 17: The Ghost Vs The Blade/ "Friendly" Reunion**

The Ghost of Ventus had been sailing for a few hours and nothing out of the ordinary occurred. The crew performed their usual tasks while Captain Morgan and Mentem took turns steering the ship. Spyro and the other dragons were on deck and looking out at the ocean. The only ones who were below deck were Hera and Soturi.

On the ship's crow's nest, a Cheetah was keeping a look out for dangers or anything of interest. The feline was bored to tears however because nothing interesting was happening. He never understood why he was assigned to be on the crow's nest anyway. He hated heights.

The Cheetah let out a loud yawn before he looked out at sea again, but his eyes widened at what he saw. He spotted a ship just as large as theirs sailing straight towards them. He took out his spyglass and looked closely at the ship to see the words "Black Blade" written on the side of it. Realizing what this meant, the feline lowered the spyglass and looked down at the crew bellow.

"Forsworn ahead! Forsworn ahead!" the Cheetah cried out as he rang the alarm bell.

Captain Morgan looked up at the Cheetah before he looked ahead to see a large ship in the far distance. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the ship's basic outline and size.

"I know that ship… Prepare for battle!" the captain called out with fire in his eyes.

"Aye aye captain!" the pirates roared in response before they lowered all the sails and loaded the cannons. Spyro and the rest of the group on deck ran over to the captain and Mentem to try to find out what was going on. Hera and Soturi realized that something was happening and rushed above deck to meet up with everyone.

"What's-" Cynder started as the group approached the captain.

"The Forsworn brought a ship called the Black Blade to sink us." Captain Morgan interrupted her with a serious tone of voice.

"Dammit. Why can't they leave us alone?"Mentem growled in frustration.

"My guess is that they want you dead. Best case scenario, they only want to capture you. Either way, my crew and I won't allow them to get to ya." the ape pirate promised as he grabbed hold of the wheel and steered the ship so that they were sailing towards the enemy ship.

"Okay. So, what should we do? Most of us aren't used to fighting at sea." Hera informed as she adjusted her glasses.

The ape rubbed his chin in thought as he tried to think of a plan. He eventually came up with a strategy and looked at the group.

"Mentem, you'll stay here with me and help give out orders. Hera, Soturi… help out anyone who gets injured during the battle. Spyro, Tula; you two will swim up to the ship once we're close to them and sabotage 'em. The rest of you will go below deck and help the crew down there with the cannons." Captain Morgan explained, receiving nods from all of them.

The group ran off to prepare for their assigned tasks and both Captain Morgan and Mentem stayed by the wheel. After a few tense moments, everyone could clearly see the Black Blade in all its infamous glory. A cannon on the ship fired all of a sudden and the cannonball smashed into the water next to the Ghost of Ventus.

"A warning shot." Mentem muttered with a heavy frown under his hat.

The ape pirate nodded and his knuckles whitened under his fur as he tightly held the wheel. He steered the ship so that the side was facing the Forsworn vessel.

"Ready the cannons!" Mentem shouted and all the cannons on the right side of the pirate ship were trained on their enemy.

They all waited a few moments so that they would get the best hit, they noticed that the Black Blade began to turn as well so they could get a shot off.

"FIRE!" the fear dragon boomed as he pointed a talon at the enemy ship.

All of the cannons on the right side boomed as they fired and the cannonballs smashed into the Forsworn, causing an average amount of damage. About half of the cannonballs missed unfortunately.

"Reload! Loud the grapeshot this time!" Mentem shouted as he glared at the enemy vessel.

The crew did as instructed and loaded the ordered ammunition. Once they were fully loaded, they took aim, but the Black Blade fired first. The enemy cannonballs smashed into various parts of the Ghost of Ventus, but not enough to damage it too badly.

"Damn! Stop shooting me ship, you bastards!" Captain Morgan shouted as he raised his middle finger at the Forsworn.

"OPEN FIRE!" the fear dragon boomed with a snarl.

All of the loaded cannons fired at once and the ammunition spread open like a shotgun. Most of the pellets hit their mark and splinters of wood erupted from the enemy ship. The crew cheered at their minor victory, but got back into positions when they noticed that they weren't out of the fire yet.

"Load the cannonballs!" Mentem shouted and the crew got to work.

As the crew did their jobs, Spyro and Tula were on the back of the deck and watching the fight. There were black, waterproof bags strapped to their sides that were full of explosives. They both suddenly looked at one another and nodded. They then ran towards the railing and jumped into the sea.

The hidden gill on their necks opened up once they were submerged in water and they were able to breathe beneath the surface thanks to their water element. They looked around the ocean to see the underside of the Black Blade and they began to swim towards it.

Tula was obviously a faster swimmer due to her webbed paws and fins, but she slowed down for her purple companion. Once they were about halfway to the enemy ship, they were cut off by a large group of Mermaid-like creatures.

These aquatic females greatly resembled mermaids, except they didn't have any human skin or hair; their full bodies were scales. They were blue in color and sharp claws could be seen on the ends of their fingers. Their teeth were filled with needle-like teeth and their eyes were glowing red. Their upper bodies looked feminine with exposed breasts and all, while their lower portion resembled a fish.

One of the Mermaids swam forward with hateful eyes and spoke in a language that Spyro wasn't' familiar with. He looked over at Tula with a raised eyebrow, wanting to know what was going on.

"They're speaking in the Language of Sharks." Tula spoke with a slightly distorted voice due to the water. "They say that we've wandered into their waters and they've deemed it necessary to kill us." She explained as she glared at the Mermaids.

"Can't we talk to them? Try to explain what we're doing?" Spyro asked nervously as the hostile sea people swam around them.

To answer his question, one of the Mermaids rushed forward with its claws outstretched. Tula quickly swam towards the creature and bit into its neck. The creature shrieked in pain, but was silenced when the water dragoness roughly jerked her head, snapping its neck.

Spyro noticed the other Mermaids rushing forward as well, so he used his fire breath to boil up the water in front of him. They howled in agony as their scales burned and many of them died right there. A few of them survived however and swam around the boiling water.

One of them was about to bite into his shoulder, but Tula swatted it away with her tail.

"Set the explosives! I'll deal with these things!" the water dragoness told Spyro as she gave him her explosives.

The purple dragon watched as she swam towards the remaining three Mermaids. He realized what he had to do and swam towards the Black Blade as fast as he could. Once he reached the ship, he opened the bags and took some of the explosives out with his right forepaw.

These explosives were much smaller versions of mines that would be out at sea and they would explode even underwater. Not wanting to waste time, the purple hero used a sticky paste he was given to "glue" the explosives to the bottom of the ship. He glanced at Tula to see how she was doing and he was just in time to see her use her tailblade to behead one of the Mermaids.

Not wanting to look at the gory scene for too long, he looked back at the bombs and rigged them to explode. He then turned back towards Tula and swam as fast as his un-aquatic body allowed.

Above ground, the fighting hasn't ceased in the slightest and the cannons took turns firing. All of a sudden, there was a loud explosion and a miniature tsunami of water splashed straight into the air. The Black Blade was now flouting at a tilt and various fires could be seen on the lower deck.

Loud screams of pain could be heard from the Forsworn ship and the Ghost of Ventus' crew cheered.

Back below the sea, Spyro and Tula just finished off the last to Mermaids by slicing them to death with their claws. Realizing that they completed their task, they swam back to the Ghost of Ventus. When they reached the mighty ship, they used their wings to propel themselves out of the water and onto the side of the ship.

"That was intense!" Tula commented loudly as they climbed the side of the ship and onto the deck.

"Yeah!" was all Spyro could say as he panted heavily.

They looked over at the Forsworn ship to see that there was no possible way that they could sail anywhere without damaging their ship further. They rushed over to the back of the ship and Captain Morgan smiled at them when he noticed their presence.

"Good work. You two did a fine job." the ape pirate praised with a nod. "Go below deck and help the crew however you can. Me and Mentem will take it from here." he informed them.

The two dragons nodded in understanding before they rushed below deck. The ape pirate then looked over at his temporary second mate and smirked.

"Make the call." Captain Morgan told him.

"PREPARE TO BOARD!" Mentem roared and the captain steered the ship towards Black Blade.

Once the two ships were right next to each other, every available crew member threw robes with hoods or harpoons on the ends of them at the ship so that it wouldn't drift away. Mentem and Captain Morgan stepped away from the wheel and quickly walked over to the side of the ship.

"You remember how to do this?" the captain asked as he unsheathed his weapon, revealing a large, serrated sword.

"Yes." the fear dragon answered as he glared at the Forsworn on the other ship.

The pirate ape nodded before he faced the Black Blade. He let out a loud battle cry before he charged with Mentem right at his side. The rest of the crew followed behind them and all of the pirates boarded while everyone else stayed behind.

The pirates immediately got into a large battle with the Forsworn on the Black Blade's deck. Much of the fighting was at a stalemate, but both Captain Morgan and Mentem slaughtered anymore who opposed them. The captain was very skilled with his sword and downed various Forsworn while Mentem relied on his claws and his spear shaped tailblade.

Captain Morgan stopped all of a sudden when he spotted a pirate wearing black robes and black tricorn on top of the hooded figure's head. Upon closer inspection, he could tell that this person was a wolf and he was the captain of the Black Blade.

"Keep the other Forsworn off me." he told the fear dragon before he ran off.

The ape pirate ran up to the Forsworn captain and attempted to stab him, but the Forsworn blocked it with a dagger.

"You'll have to do better than that." the hooded figure spoke in a feminine voice and she took out another dagger with her free hand.

Captain Morgan scoffed and pulled his sword away. He looked over the hooded figure and was able to tell that she was in fact a girl.

"I hate hurtin' ladies, but I'll make an acception for you." the ape pirate replied as he twirled his intimidating sword.

The female captain chuckled darkly as she rolled her shoulders and charged with murder in her eyes. Captain Morgan quickly side-stepped the attack because he didn't want to risk breaking his sword by blocking. He slouched down and kicked her in the gut with a loud grunt.

She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, but she was able to shrug off the attack and she slicked his forearm with one of her daggers, making him hiss in pain. He lunged forward all of a sudden and attempted to punch her in the face, but she ducked down to avoid the attack.

The wolf was about to stab him in the gut, but she screamed when she felt a piercing pain in her back. Captain Morgan managed to dig his sword into her back and he roughly shoved her to the ground.

She coughed when she hit the wooden ground and she slowly rolled on o her back. She was about to say something clever or boastful for her final words, but the pirate didn't give her a chance and he stabbed her between the eyes, ending her life.

"Sorry darling… but I'm not the honorable type…" the ape panted before he pulled out his serrated sword.

Once he felt good enough to fight again, Captain Morgan ran over to his crew to continue the fight. None of them noticed as Mentem down the lower deck with three other pirates to see if anyone was trying to hide or protect something.

...

Orm simply stood in her personal quarters bellow deck as the rest of the crew on deck were being decimated by the superior skill of the crew members of The Ghost of Ventus. While the one way battle was going on, she simply focused on her alchemy set, pounding several poisonous flowers together and putting them in a liquid mixture, she held up the vial and eyed the crimson liquid. She smirked at her handy work. She raised the vial to her lips, and drank it.

Her face tightened in disgust briefly, but eventually the cleaver smirk came back onto her face. Her guard, a lowly mole, held up a crossbow at the door, hearing someone outside. Seconds later, the door blew open and she heard a whistle of an arrow smash into the guard's skull and made a silent thump as his body crashed to the ground.

Mentem and the three other pirates slowly approached Orm from behind. Slowly, the poison dragoness turned around and smiled.

"Well well, the famous Mentem." Orm said cockily. "A pleasure," Orm finished giving a disrespectful bow.

Mentem glared at Orm.

"Who are you?" Mentem asked.

"Who am I?" Orm asked. "Who am I?" She repeated while she giggled. "Didn't my lovely Hera ever mention me? Surely my dear sister would've mentioned her big sister?"

The three pirates glanced at one another in confusion.

Orm sighed. "Very well…my name is Orm, the Poison Guardian."

"The poison and Fear dragons don't have a place on the Imperial Guardian Council." Mentem said emotionlessly.

"Who says the Empire is the only one who has a council?" Orm asked. "Lady Persephone hired me to be one of her most trusted lieutenants…in return she's allowed me to do whatever I'd like to our enemy, YOU."

Orm giggled madly and darkly. She eyed the three pirates and smirked, she saw them sweating and trembling. She smirked sadistically. "Well, well well…looks like I have some new test rats you'll all be empty husks when I'm done with you…but you…" She paused looking at Mentem. "I can't wait to hear your beautiful screams!"

Orm then cackled darkly as one of the pirates began to convulse and wheeze blood, followed by his two companions, Mentem looked at his three escorts in shock as they all began to die slowly and painfully. Mentem kneeled down next to a female ape, who was wheezing her last breaths as her eyes rolled into the back of her sockets and let out her last breath. Mentem glared up at Orm.

"What did you do!?" Mentem demanded.

Orm smirked.

"Oh don't worry, we're both fine. I included Dragon's Hearth into the poison, Dragon's Hearth is very useful in curing seizures and other sorts of illnesses dragon's may acquire…but when a poor lesser species is breathing it…well…" Orm looked at the body of the mole that was once her guard. "Poor Mathias was proble glad when you killed him…no doubt he felt the vapors enter his body but was to stoic to show it…"

Mentem cut Orm off by breathing a siren blast and fear gas at Orm, both of which hit her and caused her to stumble. Mentem tackled her and pointed his spear like tail blade at her throat. Orm looked up at Mentem with dread filled eyes.

"Oh goddess! Oh Goddess!" She gasped.

Mentem smirked, satisfied with the effect of his fear element…until he felt Orm's rear left paw kick Mentem off of her. Mentem flew through the air and hit the wall. Mentem struggled to stand up, until he noticed a green glowing liquid over him. Mentem felt his body grow numb.

"Oh goddess! HA!" Orm laughed. "Do you really think I didn't come prepared!" Orm chuckled as she lowered her head down to Mentem's level. "I knew you'd board this ship! You never miss adventure at every turn, that captain was all so willing to give up her life to make sure that it seemed her crew was guarding me. So I made a serum that would make me temporarily immune to your element. And don't bother getting up, that liquid affects shockwaves to the brain and limits them so your body can't even respond to commands regarding moving your body!"

Slowly, Orm raised her syringe like tailblade to Mentem's neck and chuckled.

"I'd like to see what this serum does to you…I've always wanted a..." Orm was cut off by the sound of metal hitting the back of her head. Orm's body stiffened as she turned around briefly, to stare in the eyes of none other than Hera.

"Little sis…" were Orm's last words before falling into a state of unconsciousness and fell to the ground.

"Hello…big sister Orm…" Hera said softly to her unconscious sister. Hera looked at Mentem and walked over to him.

She kneeled next to her companion and bit into his neck lightly, injecting an anti toxin into Mentem's veins. She backed up and gave Mentem some breathing room. When Mentem recovered, he looked at her and smirked.

"Don't tell anyone this, but I'm glad we have a vampire." Mentem joked. Hera smiled and nodded but then looked at Orm's body and kneeled next to it and slowly stroked her childhood friend's cheek. "I'll tell them that we have a prisoner…a special one…"

Hera said nothing at Mentem as he walked out of the room…the battle was over, now the pirates of The Ghost of Ventus were taking all of the goods of the ship. Hera closed her eyes as she sat next to her unconscious old friend…she wanted to believe that she wasn't with the Forsworn…she had to be a prisoner! She HAD to be…

….

Orm was taken to a prison brig bellow deck of the Ghost of Ventus. Everyone wanted to know about Hera's history with Orm, but the poison dragoness remained silent from all the questions and simply spent her time alone on deck.

When midnight fell, Hera decided that it was time to speak with Orm…she wanted answers and she wanted to desperately meet with her friend that she hadn't seen for five years.

...

Hera walked down to the prison brig with her head down low. She was almost hoping that her friend was still unconscious, yet she also wanted to talk to her. She couldn't believe that Orm was part of the Forsworn. She just hoped that her friend was being forced to do it or something so that they wouldn't be enemies.

When Hera reached the Orm's cell, she looked through the bars to see the slightly older poison dragoness was awake and had her back to her.

"Um… Big Sister?" Hera asked softly and a little hesitantly, not knowing how her old friend would react to her presence.

Orm slowly turned around to look at her visitor, and she smiled sweetly when she saw that it was Hera.

"Little Sister! I haven't seen you in five years." the older poison dragoness said happily as she walked up to the bars. "What have you been up to since we last saw each other?" she asked casually despite her situation.

"Oh, I've become one of the leading medics in the Empire." Hera answered with a small smile herself as she walked up to the bars.

"Impressive. See, I told you that you'd amount to great things." the older poison dragoness praised with a big smile.

"Yeah… I remember that everyone used to make fun of me back at academy because of my glasses." Hera recalled with her head down, recalling all the hardships everyone put her through.

"Hey, you also have to remember that I kept those bad people at bay. Remember when I made chemical laxatives and put it in that tone bully's drink?"Orm asked with a smirk.

Hera actually giggled when her Big Sister said that. There was one bully who always threatened to beat her up, so Orm made a chemical concoction and slipped it in his drink. The guy nearly crapped himself on the spot and rushed to the bathroom, making him the laughing stock of the academy for awhile.

"Yes I remember. Thanks for that." Hera said gratefully with an appreciative smile.

Both dragonesses giggled at the memory and looked at one another with smiles. They liked that they could finally talk to each other after being apart for five years, but then Hera recalled why Orm was here in the first place. She took a deep breath before she spoke up.

"Back in Tasangot, there was an Atlawa named Benedict… he said that you helped synthesize the plague…but you wouldn't do that… would you?" Hera asked, hoping desperately that her informant was wrong.

"…Yes, I did make the plague. Do you want to know why I made it? It's because I wanted to see what would happen if a proud city fell because of a sickness; what would happen to the people themselves… I love seeing my test subjects suffer. I have to say, I'm proud of you for being able to figure out how to cure it. I made it so that only the best of the best could cure it." Orm replied with a sadistic smile.

Hera's eyes widened in horror by what her best friend just said and she shakily backed up until she bumped into the pillar behind her. She knew that her Big Sister liked poisons and herbs like that, but she had no idea that she would cause a whole plague.

"Five hundred and seventy three people died from the plague… one hundred and twenty seven of those victims were children and under the age of ten… and all you can say is that you wanted to experiment on them? As if the city was just a mere petri dish!? I always knew you loved to experiment with poison… but this…" the younger poison dragoness spoke with a very shaky voice ad her legs were wobbly.

"It's for science. What difference does it make if I experiment on people opposed to animals? We're all organisms on this planet. Hell, I wouldn't mind testing some muscle numbing or psychology changing venom **(1)** on you… Do you wanna know what I do to my victims when I don't kill them?" the psychopath said with a dark grin.

Hera was too shocked to answer and she continued to stare at her older sister figure with horror and shock. She hoped that all of this was just some sick joke, but her gut told her that this was real.

"You're gonna be mine once I'm outta this cell. I'll take you home with me… I'm sure my mate would like to meet you too. We'll keep you safe and away from all this war and bullshit." Orm told her as she backed away from the cell bars and sat down on her hunches.

Not wanting to hear anymore, Hera turned tail and sprinted out of the prison brig as fast as she could. As she ran, tears slid down her cheeks and Orm's laughter could be heard behind her.

**A/N: (1) Keep this one in mind...  
**

**Also, the Mermaids seen in the attack are creations of Native Avenger. **

**And wow...Talk about friendly reunion huh? Just to clarify: Orm still loves her little sister figure and wouldn't do anything to kill her...but that does not mean the sadistic Poison Dragoness wont go through means to hurt Hera in order to keep Hera safe. Out of all of The "Guardians" that Native Avenger made, Orm is technically considered to have a "Heart"...even if a majority of her personality is sadistic. **


	19. Chapter 18: Hera's Grief

**Chapter 18: Hera's Grief**

...

Orm waited silently in her cell, listening to the movement of the ship as it sailed through the ocean. By now, it was evening and many of the crew members were taking their shifts, keeping watch and the various other tasks. There were no guards in the brig…since Orm knew that any single person wouldn't stand a chance against the entire highly trained crew of The Ghost of Ventus…however; Orm was not a normal Dragoness.

Slowly, after waiting hours after she spoke with her little sister, she decided to make her move at last…after all, she had to be ready for when "Stage two" began. Orm slowly approached the lock of her cell, and slowly placed her index talon of her right forepaw in the lock, and focused her poison so slowly drop into the lock.

Suddenly, a hissing noise could be heard, the melting of steel. Orm smirked. Before she was captured, she synthesized an acid that would melt just about anything.

Suddenly, the lock dropped off of her cell door. Slowly, she pushed the door opened, and smirked. Now, she could carry on with her "Personal" assignment before phase two began.

The Poison "Guardian" made her way through the lower parts of the ship, making sure to remain in the shadows as she made her way to the doctor's quarters, most likely where Hera was.

Five minutes later, she found the doctor's quarters, and slowly opened the door silently, peering through…and to her luck, she saw Hera sitting near a desk, with her back turned. It looked like Hera was writing something down…Orm paid no mind to that, and slowly walked into the room. As she did, she reached for a block of wood and raised it.

As Orm approached Hera and came within inches of her little sister, Hera looked at a glass of water mixed with herbs, to help keep her from getting sea sick. But as Hera reached for the glass, she saw Orm in the reflection of the glass…holding a piece of wood. Hera's eyes widened and she spun around…only to have the wood smash into her head, knocking her glasses off and cracking the lenses as the glasses hit the floor.

Hera let out a silent cry as the wood hit her and she fell to the ground. But before the younger poison Dragoness hit the ground, Orm dropped the wood and reached for Hera and lowered her to the ground. As Hera drifted into unconsciousness. She saw Orm smile down at her, she could see her older sister figure clearly, since her eyes could see things up close, just not far away.

Slowly, Hera's eyes closed, drifting fully into unconsciousness.

Orm smiled lightly and rubbed a bead of blood away from her little sister's forehead.

"Don't worry, Little Sister. My mate and I will take good care of you." Orm said kindly to her little sister's unconscious body. Slowly, Orm kissed her sister's forehead and placed her head on the ground lightly…right now Orm was curious as to what her sister figure had written.

Orm looked at the notebook…and realized that this book was the same violet notebook that she had given Hera when they both graduated from the Academy meant for Poison Dragons in terms of alchemy.

Orm read the recent entry.

_"Entry 54: Day two at sea_

_I've just spoken with Orm…she's changed so much…and none of it good. She synthesized the plague that threatened to wipe out Tasangot's inhabitants. When I asked Big sister Orm if what Benedict said was true…she full heartedly, and proudly, said she did it. Is this really my sister? The same dragoness who took me under her wing when my parents died? The dragoness who shared my dorm and always made me happy whenever I was sad? The same Dragoness who protected me all of those years ever since I was a dragonling? The same dragoness who helped me and my beloved Matthew enter a relationship? Have we really drifted apart these five years? That she is willing to kill hundreds of innocent lives just to appease her lust for alchemy…but no matter what she has done, no matter what pain she may have caused. She is my sister, one of two people I've ever considered my family…and the last of the people I call family. _

_I may have a duty to the Empire, a duty to The Guardians and The Prophet. But I also have a duty to my family. I will NOT let the council hurt Orm, I will not lose…"_

The entry ended with a streak of ink covering the lower part of the page, showing where Hera had stopped before Orm struck Hera. Orm looked down at her unconscious little sister with a sad expression.

She knew that Hera wouldn't agree with her methods…but Orm didn't care in the least, all she cared about was getting Orm away from this war. But something bothered Orm, she had read about Matthew, Hera's loving and supportive mate…Orm remembered how she had helped get the two together, since the two had a mutual crush on each other but never approached the other.

The way Hera wrote "My beloved Matthew" it almost sounded like…Matthew was dead?

Orm slowly flipped through the pages…and looked at the twelfth entry.

_"Entry 12: Year two at being a medic for The Empire, currently been promoted to Head of The Medical Corps _

_I should be happy…I should be overjoyed that I've finally become the leader of the Medical Corps, I should be in joy that my methods in Alchemy and healing are finally being used by all of the medics…but I'm not. _

_Matthew is dead…my loving mate. We have only been mated for two years…this can't be happening to me. This CAN'T! I remember two days ago I had went to a bar, where Matthew promised he'd meet me at when he returned with his men from Boyzitbig…I entered the bar, and I saw his men sitting at a table in the far corner, drinking…I remember looking for Matthew and asking his lieutenant "Where is Matthew?" _

_He looked away from me, as if he didn't…no, COULDN'T look into my eyes. I remember I then remember my anger rising. I slammed my fist on the table and yelled at him "WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!"_

_Matthew's lieutenant then looked at me with saddened eyes and slowly handed me something…it was a locket…Matthew's locket. It was then that I realized, what had happened. Matthew was dead. His men told me what happened, how when they arrived on the island, they were ambushed by Gaul and the apes. They had been given outdated information, they were heavily outnumbered. But Matthew ordered his men to retreat, while he remained behind to hold off the enemy. His lieutenant volunteered to stay, but Matthew, for one, angrily told his men that if they didn't leave, then he would never live with the sight of seeing his brothers and sisters in arms dying, knowing he did nothing to prevent their deaths. They did so, reluctantly._

_They came back days later, to rescue Matthew. When they cleared the fort, they found Matthew…they described to me what the apes did to him…Gaul had lost his eye to Matthew, and wanted to make Matthew pay. He cut off Matthew's wings, horns, tailblades and made Matthew eat a whole dark gem…making Matthew lose his fire element. Matthew was dying, and was in agony every second…he ordered his lieutenant to kill him, and promised him that the locket I had given to Matthew was returned to me…_

_When they finished telling me…my entire world broke apart. My mate was dead…the dragon who showed me only love and happiness…was gone from this world. First I find out I'm infertile…unable to give birth to children…a year later, my mate dies…_

_But even though my life feels empty, I won't give up yet…I have my duty, I made a promise that I won't forget…This war will end, and when it does, my units and I will be there for those wounded and we will not fail them."_

Orm closed the journal and sighed sadly…Hera had never told her any of this in her letters. Hera was always one to keep her emotions bottled up. Orm now had a resolve. She intended to use _that _on her…but now in order to make Hera forget all of this crap and pain…she was going to use it on her when she takes Hera back home with her.

Slowly, Orm bent down and supported Hera up with her wing, and waited a few seconds…suddenly, the sound of an explosion could be heard, rocking the entire ship. Orm smirked. Her plan worked perfectly! Have the Blade be destroyed and Orm be "Captured" and then be held prisoner for a few hours, knock Hera out and take Hera with Orm and be home free. Now, while the crew is in disorder, she can take Hera home.

Orm waited a few seconds, and another explosion rocked the ship, but this time, a cannon ball smashed into the side of the ship, more specifically in the doctor's quarters, and made a hole close to Orm. Orm smirked, and grabbed Hera by her shoulder's, and flew out of the hole towards the Forsworn ship in the distance.

As Orm flew off, she heard someone yell that Hera had been captured. Orm looked back to see the fear dragon, Mentem, and the fire dragon Blaze fly after Orm. But the two quickly cut their chase when the Forsworn ship shot off a grape shot, which Blaze and Mentem just barely avoided.

When Orm reached the Forsworn ship, two crew members, apes, rushed to Orm's side and saw Hera's unconscious form. Both apes grinned sadistically, sadistic thoughts running through the two male ape's heads. But the stopped when they noticed Orm's steel glare.

"Touch her! You all will die!" Orm growled. "Take her to my quarters…do not tie her up, she is our guest…and she will be treated as such." She said. "But, if I find any kind of bruise, cut or even a sliver! I will personally fill your veins with acid! And take deep pleasure in watching you all die horribly!"

The two apes nodded quickly, knowing not to question The Poison "Guardian"…after all, rumor had it that the "Guardians" that Persephone chose…were absolute lunatics. With no further questions, Orm watched as Hera was taken to her quarters. Orm then looked out as the Ghost of Ventus vanished from view…their sails were damaged, so they couldn't do chase.

"Where to now ma'am?" The captain of the ship, a cheetah, asked.

Orm looked at the cheetah and smiled in a false sweet way. "To Lumimyrsky…home…"

...

After the Forsworn ship left with Orm and Hera, everyone gathered on the crew deck to discuss what just happened. Suffice it to say, none of them were expecting the second attack, nor for their prisoner to kidnap one of their healers and friend.

"How could this have happened? Where did they take Hera?" Tula asked with a devastated tone of voice and expression.

"It was Orm, she must've planned this." Captain Morgan spoke up with a heavy frown. "That Forsworn ship had had rams on the front, so…" he continued, hoping the group would catch on.

"…So the ship came from Dante's Freezer. Those rams were meant to cut through ice to make things easier to sail in the north." Cynder realized as she perked her head up.

"And what famous city is in Dante's Freezer?" the ape captain asked with a smirk.

"Lumimyrsky!" the black dragoness realized with wide, hopeful eyes.

"Exactly." Captain Morgan confirmed with a nod.

"Hold on a second. Dante's Freezer is in the exact opposite direction of where we're going." Blaze commented, starting to get frustrated.

"Hm, maybe we don't have to choose where we go exactly, but who goes where." Spyro suggested, gaining everyone's attention. "We'll split into two teams. One goes to Lumimyrsky, the other goes to the Desert of Noctis." he explained, receiving nods of approval from the others.

"That sounds like a good idea. Ven, Blaze, Spes, and I will you to Lumimyrsky to save Hera." Cynder offered and said dragons stood by her side.

"Okay. Me, Tula, Mori, and Mentem will go to the desert city then and see what that Necromancer is up to." the purple dragon replied and everyone nodded.

"We won't come back without Hera. You have a soldier's promise." Spes assured before he and the rest of his group took flight and started heading north.

As the rest of the group watched their four friends leave, Captain Morgan and Mentem walked back to the wheel and continued sailing towards the Desert of Noctis.

…..

There was a blizzard over the city of Lumimyrsky and almost all of the residents were indoors. Within one of the many buildings in the city, the front door opened and Orm herself walked in with the unconscious Hera on her back.

Jord was reading on one of the seating pillows and his head perked up when she walked in and shut the door behind her with her tail. He grinned when he noticed the dragoness on his mate's back and he stood up.

"Why Orm, is that you're Little Sister that you always talk about?" the overweight earth dragon asked with a big smile as he looked over the unconscious dragoness.

"Yes, Jord. She's the one I've been writing my letters to." his mate answered with a smile of her own as she walked over to a shelf with various bottles of chemicals in them.

She looked at all the labels until she found the one she wanted and grabbed it with her forepaw. She sat down on her hunches to make things easier and opened the bottle.

"What are you doing?" Jord asked as he sat down next to Hera and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"Have you heard of the saying 'ignorance is bliss?'" she answered with a question as she poked the tip of her tailblade into the glowing yellow liquid and the hollow blade pumped some of the liquid into it like a needle.

The earth dragon said nothing else, but he knew what she meant. Once she had enough of the toxin, Orm put the cap on the bottle and put it away. She then walked over to Hera and stood over her.

"Keep her steady." she requested as she raised her tailblade.

Jord nodded and firmly pinned the unconscious poison dragoness to the pillow. Carefully, Orm gently stabbed Hera's neck and began to pump the toxins into her system. Luckily for them, the younger poison dragoness didn't wake up and only flinched in her sleep.

"All done." Orm stated cheerfully as she pulled her tailblade away.

A few moments after she said that, Hera groaned lightly and her eyes blinked open. She looked around as she squinted her eyes, but she then looked very scared.

"My glasses! Where are my glasses!?" she asked loudly with a strikingly more childish tone of voice.

"Don't worry, Little Sister. My mate and I are here. We'll get you some new glasses soon." Orm assured as she leaned in closely so Hera could clearly see her face.

Hera still looked a little panic stricken, but she visibly calmed down when she saw Orm. It was as if she didn't remember anything after she and Orm left the academy.

"Well, that's interesting." Jord commented with a chuckle as he looked at Hera, who looked so innocent and childish now.

"Indeed. And she's all ours." Orm stated with a big smile as she hugged Hera, who hugged back with a smile of her own.

...

**A/N: Orm was not kidding with what she said in the last chapter about what she planned to do to Hera...all to keep her safe...(Sarcastically) talk about a loveable sister.**


	20. Chapter 19: The Lie

**Chapter 19: The Lie**

**...**

**A/N: History of The Spectra Timeline: _Terra_**

**_A world which has two prominent Continents: The Northern Continent Crystalia, and the southern Continent of Gran Nova. The people of the north live in futuristic cities and have a wealthy lifestyle, while the people of the south live in prosperous Clans and Tribes. Two very different cultures, but they have one thing that binds them both: The legendary Dra'tre. _**

**_..._**

It had been two days since Orm had brought Hera home to Lumimyrsky, where Orm hoped her younger sister could live a happy life with her and Jord. So far, everything was going as she'd hoped. In the two days that Hera had lived with Jord and Orm in their home in the noble quarters of Lumimyrsky, the toxins in Hera's blood made Hera's mental state similar to that a of toddlers, it also drastically affected the young nineteen year old dragoness' memories.

The only thing she could remember of her past was Orm and Hera's deceased family.

Currently, Orm made her way down one of the hallways of her and Jord's home, heading to Hera's bedroom, who was still sleeping. Persephone had called for an early morning meeting, requesting her, Jord and her other advisors' presence. She also demanded that Orm bring Hera, since the legendary dragoness wanted to know why Orm kept Hera alive.

Orm slowly opened the door into Hera's room, and peered through, seeing Hera's bed covered with a pink blanket, pink had been Hera's favorite color when she was ten, but had grown out of it when she was thirteen. Orm noticed Hera underneath the covers…and realized that Hera was trying to play "Hide and seek". Orm smiled lightly.

"Where oh where did Hera go…" Orm asked, in fake confusion as she walked up to the bed.

She heard Hera make a child like giggle underneath the blankets. Orm grinned as she pushed the blankets off of Hera, and the young poison dragoness giggled happily, seeing her older sister. Orm smiled and kissed Hera's forehead.

"Good morning sweetie…" Orm said. "Did you sleep well?"

Hera nodded happily.

"Yes!" Hera said with child like excitement. "I had good dreams!"

Orm smiled and pet her little sister's head lightly.

"That's very good little sister…" Orm said. "Big Brother Jord had to leave to meet our…boss, our boss wants to meet you…"

Hera tilted her head lightly in childlike curiosity.

"You mean the meanie who scared big brother Jord?" Hera asked.

Orm couldn't help but chuckle, in the past two days, Orm and Jord told Hera about their leader, Persephone, and a little bit about their "Allies". Since the two mates knew that Hera needed to stay clear of the others…Particularly Rädsla…the fear dragon would no doubt take pleasure in further affecting Hera.

"Yes…the big meanie." Orm said, stroking Hera's cheek, who just gently rubbed her head against Orm, similar to that of a dog who rubbed it's head against it's owner as a sign of affection. "Remember, do not say anything while we're in the meeting…our co-workers are not nice. Once the meeting is done, we'll buy you a treat."

Hera nodded.

"I promise." Hera said. "Hera will be a good girl."

Orm grinned. "I know you will."

With that, Orm stood up and helped Hera get ready for the morning, when the two had had breakfast, Orm led Hera towards the building where the meeting would take place. While they made their way through the icy streets of Lumimyrsky, Hera did as she was told, to not say anything, since Orm did not want the passing civilians to look at Hera and insult her because of her…'unique' personality.

When they arrived at the meeting hall, Orm took a deep breath before entering…knowing far too well that if she couldn't persuade Persephone…then Hera would be killed…something Orm promised that she would not let happen. But to Hera, the dragoness had no idea that her life was in danger, she just silently giggled at the snow that fell on her nose…to Orm, she was just glad Hera had nothing to worry about…

…

"So tell me, Orm, why have you taken a captive?" Persephone asked, her crimson eyes glaring in Orm's direction.

The Forsworn "Guardians" sat in their respected seats, Persephone sat at the head of the table, with Oculos standing beside her. Persephone was not happy to learn that Orm took Hera captive, let alone finding out that Hera was the leader of the Medical Corps…but of course Hera could not see the dragoness, but could hear the displeasure in the dragoness' voice.

Hera sat on the ground in between Jord and Orm, while Orm spoke to Persephone, Jord gently rubbed the top of Hera's head, trying to keep the dragoness calm. The other "Guardians" were present in the room, minus Brand, who was normally late for the meetings anyways, the guardians looked at the semi blind dragon in amusement. Some of them couldn't help but snicker at the mentally impaired Dragoness, Orm resisted the urge to claw her "Allies" into submission for having the audacity to laugh at Hera, but Orm wanted to look professional in front of Persephone…so Hera's chances of survival would be better.

"Because, milady," Orm answered. "I've developed a toxin that could be used on your enemies…the same toxin that I used on the leader of the medics," Silently gesturing at Hera, not wanting to scare the poor dragoness.

"Well…" Persephone answered, eyeing the young dragoness, who struggled to look in Persephone's direction due to her limited sight. "that sounds useful…but how can she benefit us? Give me one reason why I should not kill her now, and put her out of here future embarrassment?"

Orm felt a bead of sweat drop lightly, but then she heard Vind speak up.

"You have to admit, Orm, you wasted a lot of our mistress' resources on your little test rat over there." The wind dragoness said, as she said that, the wind guardian looked at Persephone, with almost a hopeful look.

All of the Guardians knew what Vind was trying to play, Vind wanted to gain Persephone and Oculos' approval and to become Persephone's left hand of the Forsworn, just as Oculos is her right hand…she also had…certain desires of Persephone and Oculos…what she wanted out of both of them included taking them to bed…her stuck up personality was the source of a joke among the guardians, Vind was good at ignoring the insults sent her way, since in her own words "While you all will be the grunts, I'll be sitting beside Lady Persephone and Commander Oculos…"

Vind seemed to wait for Persephone to answer after she mentioned how Orm 'wasted' her resources. Which Persephone nodded.

"I believe our Wind guardian is right Orm, you did waste my resources for that toxin just to create a personal pet." Persephone said. "I would take great pleasure in euthanizing her."

Vind seemed to look smugly at Orm, as if to say "At least I've gotten her favor while you stumble around."

Slowly, Orm smirked, which surprised Vind.

"Oh, but my lady." Orm said to Persephone. "You seem to underestimate my skills…tell me…have you ever read the novel 'Of Highwaymen and Nobles.'?

Persephone's expression remained unmoved…but her eyes seemed to be curious. Orm looked at Vind and smirked.

"Observe." Orm said, she then looked at Hera. "Hera…" Orm said, her tone changing to that of a hurt and a sad tone. Hera suddenly lifted her head and looked up at Orm. "Vind hurt my feelings…I'm very sad…"

Hera looked at Orm's sad eyes, which everyone in the room realized were fake, but in Hera's impaired mind, all she could think was that her older sister was hurt emotionally by the wind dragoness!

Hera glared in Vind's general direction directly across the table. Suddenly, Hera's lips curved and she snarled, revealing her canines. Vind's eyes widened in horror as suddenly Hera leapt onto the table and tackled Vind out of her chair, and pinned the wind dragoness to the floor. Hera now held her claws to the dragoness' throat, threatening to slit the dragoness' throat.

Oculos was about to stop the scuffle, but Persephone held up her paw, stopping Oculos, Oculos looked at Persephone, who shook her head. Oculos nodded, and sat back down.

"GET HER OFF ME!" Vind pleaded. "GET HER OFF OF ME! PLEASE!"

Hera snapped her teeth mere inches from Vind, ready to strike. After a few seconds, Persephone stood up from her chair.

"Enough Orm," Persephone said, her tone amused. "Call her off, we've seen enough."

Orm nodded. "Little sister." Orm said. Hera suddenly transformed from a frightening beast, back into a child again and looked in Orm's direction. Orm smiled. "I feel much better now…"

Hera grinned and ran over to Orm and sat between her and Jord.

"Well," Stöt said, looking at Orm and back at Persephone. "I told you she was a smart one now didn't I?"

Persephone rolled her eyes at the electric dragon, obviously he was trying to take the credit for Orm's development of the toxin.

"Very well Orm." Persephone said. "She may live…but if she becomes a problem…" Persephone's eyes flashed crimson. "You never what will happen."

Orm nodded. Slowly, Persephone stood up.

"Continue on with your duties, all of you…and if any of you see Brand," Persephone said. "Tell him not to be late for the battle ring."

Everyone nodded and stood up from their chairs and left the room, as Orm, Jord and Hera left, Orm looked back at Vind, who stood up and was trying to readjust her fancy ceremonial robes, and smirked at the glaring Vind. As the three left, Hera seemed to be nervous.

"Big sister Orm?" Hera asked innocently and sadly. "Was I a bad girl?"

Orm looked at her sister with a sympathetic look.

"No sweetie…you were a very good girl." Orm said. Hera then smiled happily. "Come on…lets get you your treat we promised."

...

In the battle ring within Lumimyrsky, all of the Forsworn Guardians, Oculos, Persephone, and various other Forsworn members were there for the upcoming event. The Death Dragon was in the ring at the moment and everyone was wondering what this was about.

They were all told to come to the ring, but were never told why. They all murmured amongst themselves, trying to find out if anyone knew why they were there in the first place. Everyone went silent however when Oculos started talking.

"I'm sure that you're all wondering why you were called here. Persephone and I agree that one of our new Guardians isn't carrying out his duties." Oculos spoke loudly so everyone could hear him. "Brand… step into the ring!" he announced with a heavy frown.

The muscular fire dragon's head perked up when his name was called and he casually walked into the ring. He was wondering why he was called into the ring, but he had to admit, he liked the attention he was receiving. Perhaps he could show off his skills? He allowed a small smirk to form on his snout as he stared at the Death Dragon.

"Brand… you are by far the most pathetic Guardian we've brought into the Forsworn." Oculos stated with a calm, yet dangerous sounding voice. "You're taking out your frustrations on your superiors and neglecting your duties. Just because you weren't allowed to be the Fire Guardian for the empire when Pyra beat you in a duel, you think that you can boss anyone around. You're no different than a spoiled child." he added spitefully, surprising everyone with how much hate he put into those words.

The Fire "Guardian's" eye began to twitch in irritation as he glared at the gray scaled dragon. He couldn't believe that he was being mocked like that in front of everyone.

"How dare you talk to me like that!? I am the strongest Guardian here!" Brand shouted as his glare turned into a snarl.

"If you're strong, as you claim, then fight me. Right now." the Death Dragon stated frighteningly calm, unnerving everyone but Brand, Rädsla, and Persephone.

The Fire "Guardian" let out a furious roar before he leapt towards Oculos with his claws stretched out to attack. The Death Dragon simply sidestepped the attack with a calm expression. The fire dragon clumsily landed on the ground, but was able to recuperate and he whipped around to face his opponent.

"I must admit, I'm curious. What are you planning to do to Pyra now that she beat you in a simple duel?" the Death Dragon questioned calmly, making the fire dragon growl.

"I'll tell ya what I'm gonna do! I'm gonna challenge her to another fight and I WILL beat her! Once I've beaten her, I'm gonna make her my personal trophy!" Brand boomed with anger-filled eyes.

"I asked you what you wanted to do with her, not what your sexual fantasies are." Oculos stated calmly, causing most of the spectators to chuckle and laugh.

The fire dragon was trembling with rage at this point and blazing hot smock was leaking out of his nostrils. He charged forward with his horns pointing at the Death Dragon, but he stopped when he felt a sudden pain in his thighs and he fell to the ground. He slowly looked up to see that his opponent's eyes were glowing brightly with power.

"Grr… fight me like a real dragon! No powers or elements!" the Fire "Guardian" demanded with his teeth barred.

"…Very well." Oculos said after some thought as his eyes stopped glowing and he even closed his eyes.

Brand quickly stood up again and charged, but to his surprise, the Death Dragon side stepped the attack and tripped him with his tail. The fire dragon fell to the ground with a grunt and he shouted in pain when he felt his opponent claw his back.

Oculos didn't need his eyes for this fight. He could easily hear the angry dragon and feel the floor's vibrations when he got close. Persephone trained him how to fight without using his eyes just in case he was ever blinded for some reason.

Brand snarled in anger as he rolled away and stood up again. Before he could attempt to charge however, the Death Dragon kicked him hard with his hind leg and caused him to fall over again. The fire dragon grunted as he hit the ground and he gasped loudly when his opponent began to repeatedly stomp on his stomach.

Oculos finally stopped his assault and pinned the Fire "Guardian" to the ground.

"Yield." the gray scaled dragon ordered with an emotionless tone of voice.

"I…I yield…" Brand just barely managed to say as he attempted to catch his breath.

The Death Dragon finally opened his eyes and got off of his wheezing opponent. Everyone heard clapping and they turned to look at Persephone, who was clapping her paws in amusement.

"Well done, Oculos. Brand…" the dark dragoness turned to look at Brand, who was just starting to catch his breath and shakily stand up. "I hope you've learned who your superiors are." She said with a smirk and he looked down in humiliation.

Oculos smirked as well and walked over to Persephone so he was standing by her side.

"That will conclude this… meeting. You all may leave." she told everyone before she and the Death Dragon walked out of the room.

Everyone began to leave once they were gone, but before Rädsla could leave, Orm grabbed his shoulder with her paw and forced him to look at her.

"Look, Rädsla… I've seen you staring at Hera and I want to tell you this… back off. Stay away from her, do you understand me?" the Poison "Guardian" hissed with a very intimidating look.

The Fear "Guardian" simply looked at her with a wolfish grin, obviously not threatened by her warning in the slightest. If anything, he was amused.

"Don't worry, Orm. I won't harm your Little Sister. You have my word." he assured with a slight bow of his head.

Orm merely snorted with a heavy frown and stormed away with Jord and Hera. Rädsla let out a quiet chuckle before he left as well.

...

Orm, Jord and Hera walked through the halls of the Forsworn hideout in Lumimyrsky, as of now the three were heading home after the humiliating duel that Brand went through and the humiliating defeat he suffered at the paws of Persephone's second in command, the couple never liked Brand's arrogant personality, and were actually pleased that the Fire guardian was put in his place in front of all of the Forsworn leaders. But Brand was not the only one who became embarrassed from the outcome of the fight.

Vind, who had sat next to Persephone in the stands, spoke to the leader of the Forsworn, saying how Brand would win the battle due to his strength and size. However, Persephone had absolute faith in her most trusted second in command, since she trained him herself. When Brand suffered his humiliating loss, the wind "Guardian's" face was covered in complete embarrassment, not only did she predict the wrong outcome, she did so in beside Persephone, the same dragoness she struggled to gain favor from.

Now Orm, Jord and the other guardians had another thing to joke about whenever they saw the stuck up Wind Dragoness.

As the three walked through the halls to return to their home…Hera, despite her sight being terrible, her hearing was very good…she heard the sound of sobbing coming from a room close by. Hera turned to the direction and tilted her head, curiosity visible on her face. Hera lightly tugged on Orm's ceremonial Forsworn robes to get her attention. Orm looked down at her little sister who was looking in the direction of the sobbing.

"Big sister Orm?" Hera asked innocently. "Why do I hear someone crying? It sounds like a little dragoness…"

Orm realized what she was hearing, and realized that they were close to the home of Mörker, who kept his younger five three year old sister, Dusk, as his slave and prisoner…due to a events regarding Mörker's past before he was recruited by Persephone to become one of her Forsworn Guardian lieutenants. Orm quickly thought for a moment, she couldn't ask Jord for any ideas, because Hera would catch on that something was up, so she needed to think fast, Hera always had a kind soul, always loved to help people with her element…something Orm respected, but would never do herself, after all, where was the fun in using your power to heal people when you could just as simply turn them into your test rat.

Orm quickly thought of something and smiled lightly at her younger sister and said. "Don't worry little sister. Dusk is just having fun with her Big Brother. You see, she's crying in happiness. They get rather loud when they play."

Hera seemed to relax and smiled.

"That's cute." Hera said.

Truly ignorance was bliss. Orm smiled lightly as they continued to walk, glad that her sister bought her lie.

The Orm and the rest of her family arrived to their home, they had dinner. Afterwards they played with Hera, cuddled with her and eventually got her ready for bed. When Hera lay in her bed and had her pink blanket over most of her body, she watched as Orm sat next to Hera's bedside and had a small container of liquid, which Hera noticed as her "Medicine" that Orm gave her every night. Hera never questioned why she needed the medicine, though she wondered, but she trusted her big sister. So she took it, even if it tasted disgusting.

Orm poured the "Medicine" in a cup, and slowly held it up, moving it towards Hera's lips.

Hera sighed lightly and said quietly. "Big sister Orm…the medicine gives me weird dreams…"

Orm froze lightly and looked at Hera lightly. "Oh?" Orm said. "What kind of dreams?"

Hera shrugged. "I dream of mommy…daddy…little brother…but they all die." She paused, brushing a tear away. "Then I dream of a…handsome red dragon. He looks mean…but in my dreams, when he sees me, he is the nicest person in the world…"

Orm sighed and stroked her little sister's neck.

"My medicine will make those dreams go away…" Orm said. Hera looked at the liquid, and nodded, trusting her older sister figure.

Slowly, Hera drank the medicine. Hera looked repulsed briefly, but then slowly her eyes began to grow heavy, and Hera slowly leaned back in her bed, situated herself and rested her chin on her comfortable pillow, feeling Orm kiss her on the forehead as she slept drifted to sleep.

….

_"You look so pretty." The older wind dragoness said as she added the last feather tied to Hera's horns and prepared the poison dragoness' wedding robes._

_Hera sat in front of the mirror in a room that was used to ready the bride for a marriage. Hera's bridesmaids were a Wind Dragoness and a Water Dragoness, two of her friends in the Medical corps. Hera wore a white wedding robe that a dragoness wore when she was traditionally about to be married to her husband. Tied to of her horns were feathers. _

_When Hera had been properly prepared for the ceremony and was walking out of the chapel and into the empty church courtyard that over looked a small pond. Hera noticed her mate to be standing near the pond, wearing his ceremonial red and gold armor. He was a fire dragon, about nineteen years old, three years older than Hera. _

_When Hera approached him, her mate turned around and saw her, his eyes were originally void of emotion…but as usual, when he saw her, emotion immediately became visible. Hera smiled lightly._

_"Ready…Mathew?" Hera asked shyly. Matthew smiled and began to approach her, but as he did…everything began to turn white, and everything vanished. _

**...**

**A/N: Just so you all know, The Legend of Spyro: The Forsworn, is currently going on a short Hiatus. Due to us having other projects we've gotta catch up on. Also, those of you who have read Native Avenger's Lightning Series, on deviantART a user named Rukua is in the process of making a comic version of "Lightning Legacy: New Life".**


	21. Chapter 20: The Desert

**Chapter 20: The Desert **

**A/N: We're back! And ready to continue. **

**...**

It was an extremely hot and sunny day in the deserts of the Dragon Realms. As one would expect, the area was full of seemingly endless sands, but there was a an ocean with a city bordering it.

This place was called Noctis, the Imperial desert city. The buildings and agriculture looked very Middle Easter and the inhabitants also wore Middle Eastern style clothing. The inhabitants themselves were Cheetahs and Lions.

At the city's docks, the Ghost of Ventus could be seen sailing towards the city and it stopped right next to one of the larger docks. The crew threw their anchor overboard to keep them in place and they lowered a ramp onto the dock so anyone could walk onto or off the ship.

Spyro and his remaining friends walked down the ramp and onto the dock. They looked back at Captain Morgan to see him waving at them.

"We're gonna head out and explore the region! We'll be here by the time you get back, I promise!" the ape pirate called as they ramp was pulled back onto the ship and some of the crew hoisted up the anchor.

"Okay! We'll see you then!" Spyro called back with a smile.

Many of the pirates waved at the group as they set sails and began to sail off. Once the ship was away from the docks, the group turned around and began to walk into the city.

"I've been up and down the Realms, but I've never set foot in the desert region before." Mentem commented as they walked past the various cheetahs and lions on the busy street.

"You've never been here before? Why?" Tula asked with some shock in her voice; she thought he's traveled everywhere by now.

"I've heard some really bad stuff about this place. They treat the worship of Spectra to the extreme. I once heard that a bunch of priests kidnapped some wolf children and stoned them to death just because they didn't believe in their Goddess." the fear dragon replied as he lowered his head to hide most of his face in the shadows of his hat.

"Well, they used to be like that, but they're not anymore. The Goddess' 'restrictions' no longer apply to their main church. There may be a few little groups who feel like they're religion should be law, but it's not mainstream anymore." the water dragoness assured.

"What was this place like back then? And how is it now?" Spyro asked with great interest.

"Well, the church used to be in control of the government and it was considered illegal to believe in anything they considered to be part of the 'Goddess' restrictions.' The punishments for disobeying the church were severe. They would usually stone people or beat them to death, but they would also sometimes torture people or burn them at the stake if they tried to spread a different belief." Mentem explained with a heavy frown.

"But many people started to realize how much those priests were out of their minds. Those people rose up against the church and took control of the city in what the Realms call the Noctis Revolution. The church were pushed out of the city, but they adopted the name, Cult of Spectra, and they now wreak havoc pretty much everywhere else in the desert region. Those crazy people are even willing to kill themselves if it means killing others who don't believe in their religion." Tula informed the purple dragon.

"Well, that explains why there are guards everywhere." Spyro commented as he looked at all the heavily armed guards patrolling the streets.

"Well, don't think it's hopeless, Spyro. The chaos isn't nearly as bad as it was in the past, before Emera formed the Empire. The Empire greatly reduced the cultists' threat, but they are still out there in small groups." the water dragoness told him and anyone else who was listening.

"Well, no matter what we face, we'll get though it and we'll find out what's going on here." Mori stated confidently, gaining smiles from her dragon friends, but Soturi.

The group noticed that they were now in what seemed to be the market district. There were various merchants trying to get people to buy their wares, but the group ignored them and kept walking. They all stopped however when they spotted someone very familiar to them.

The Dragon God of Mischief himself, Janus, could be seen at one of the stands and a younger dragoness was with him. They were both speaking to a customer, who appeared to be a wealthy nobleman.

The dragoness that was with him was covered in emerald green scales and golden markings could be seen throughout her body. Her eyes were dark brown in color while her horns and spear shaped tailblade were silver.

Their customer paid for the item he bought and turned around to leave. As the nobleman walked past the group, they noticed a sign on his hindquarters that read "kick me." Spyro, Mori, and Tula snickered at this, but they laughed when a random beggar ran up to the nobleman and kicked his rump before running away. Not wanting to be blamed for kicking the now very angry nobleman, the group walked over to the stand that he was just at and they looked at the two emerald green dragons.

"Mary! How could you do such a thing!? Pranking a poor nobleman like that…" Janus scolded with a frown, but his frown quickly turned into a smile. "WITHOUT ME!?" he shouted loudly before they both burst out laughing.

"Why him?" Mentem mumbled quietly to himself, unintentionally gaining their attention.

...

"NEPHEW AND FRIENDS!" Janus yelled out from across the stand.

The Dragon-God looked to the young dragoness, now identified as Mary, who looked at Spyro with excitement and eyes that seemed to admire the famous purple Dragon with her dark brown irises.

"Mary! This is your cousin! Spyro!" Janus yelled excitedly to the young dragoness.

"OH MY!" Mary said excitedly as she jumped in front of Spyro and began to shake his right paw. "I'm Mary! One of your cousins!"

"Uhh…" Spyro said, slightly weirded out. "Hi…"

Mary grinned and then looked at Janus.

"You're right daddy!" The fifteen year old Dragoness said. "He really is awesome."

"Wait…you're his daughter?" Tula asked, amazed. "You mean…Mary…THE famous Mary? The Mary who broke into the Lumimyrsky main tower and dropped a massive paint balloon on it?!"

The emerald dragoness grinned and looked proud.

"Yep!" Mary said happily while looking at Janus, who walked up to her side and looked back at the group. "I was taught by the best!"

"Indeed she was!" Janus said, laughing. He looked at Spyro and approached his nephew and placed a paw over the purple dragon's head. "Tell me, what are you doing out here, half way across the Empire's area of influence?"

Spyro then gave his uncle a quick summary of what had happened since Janus left Warfang, including Persephone brutally beating Electra, trapping her in a nightmare world and leaving the young electric dragoness in a mentally fragile state. Spyro explained how they met with his aunt Elena and how Emera would be returning to the Dragon Realms, and also how Hera had been captured, and now the group divided into two teams, one going to the desert, the other leaving for Lumimyrsky.

Janus nodded lightly, for once; his expression was serious and solemn.

"Poor Electra…" Janus said, rubbing his temples with his paw. "The poor dear…she didn't deserve a brutal treatment that she received from Persephone…Nigromantii's warning wasn't just a threat…"

Janus sighed sadly and looked at Spyro and his friends.

"Rest assured," Janus said. "If anyone can heal Electra and put her mind back to normal, Emera is the Dragon-Goddess for the job…"

"You only feel sorry for her because she laughs at your jokes." Soturi muttered. Janus looked in the young Gargoyle's direction; normally The Dragon-God of Mischief would come up with a wise crack, but not now.

"Pardon me, young one." Janus said, his voice, for once, not filled with joy, but a growing anger. "I suggest that if you would like to put my abilities to the test that you keep talking. Your people have caused my mother many tears…ironic is it not? The race my mother created from her own blood gave them immunity to poison and blessed them with the knowledge of the largest forest in this entire world…and you accuse her of abandoning you and blame her for your own hardships?"

Janus' eyes flashed emerald green briefly. Soturi's eyes grew in anger and the gargoyle stepped forward. Mary stepped in between her father and the gargoyle.

"Papa!" Mary said sternly. "Please, stay calm! Do not get angry at him."

The Dragon-God looked down at his daughter, and nodded. Slowly he looked at his nephew and the rest of his friends.

"Forgive me, Nephew…" Janus said his voice back to normal quickly. "Come, I know you all must be tired and will most likely need supplies. I'll take you to my caravan in this region, and help stock your supplies…trust me nephew, you will need them."

Spyro nodded. With that, the group followed The Dragon-God and his daughter through the dusty streets of the city. As they passed, Spyro noticed how the cheetahs and lions had…curved swords? He'd seen only straight swords before…how strange. Spyro noticed how some citizens in the city seemed to eye Spyro with amazement, and bow their heads briefly, in respect to the dragon that saved the world.

The group made their way towards the rest of the caravan near the edge of the market place. By now, the market was closing and the merchants were packing up their stands. Janus' caravan was doing the same; most of the merchants in the caravan were relaxing, drinking an…odd drink. When Janus approached one group of his merchants, they all stood up, and bowed, saying "Lord Janus".

"Saber." Janus said happily to a cheetah.

"Yes my lord?" A cheetah said respectfully.

"Oh Saber, how many times do I have to tell you and everyone, just call me Janus." Janus said happily.

Saber nodded while smiling lightly.

"Anyways," Janus said. "May you please get my nephew and his friends some raspberry ice tea? It's definitely hot out here and they will need something cool to drink…especially when they're going out into the Desert of Noctis soon."

The cheetah nodded, while bowing his head to the Purple dragon. Spyro smiled lightly and bowed his head back in respect. The Cheetah quickly walked over to one of the carts and grabbed five glasses and filled them with a cold brownish liquid. The group each sat down and was given a glass. Everyone looked at the glass they were given.

"What…is this?" Mori asked, not really sure she wanted to drink it.

"It's called Ice tea!" Mary said happily as she sat next to her cousin and drinks some of the "Ice tea". "Papa travels everywhere, and gets a lot of stuff…go on try it!"

Everyone looked at their glasses again, and took a sip…everyone seemed to enjoy it…the raspberry flavor was what made the drink taste good. As everyone continued to drink, Janus spoke with some of the merchants in his caravan about the gear that the group would need. But while the others enjoyed their drink, Mary noticed Soturi didn't touch his glass. Wanting to cheer the Gargoyle up, she picked up his glass, and suddenly vanished in emerald green light, much to everyone in Spyro's group surprise, minus Soturi who starred at the ground while his hood was up.

Mary suddenly reappeared on top of Soturi's shoulders and was leaning down and looking at his eyes while upside down and standing on his shoulders.

"Ice tea!" Mary asked the stoic gargoyle nicely. The Gargoyle grunted lightly, his way of saying no. Suddenly, Mary vanished and reappeared on his left side, holding the glad out. "Ice tea!"

"No…" Soturi muttered.

Mary vanished again, reappearing to his right and shook the glass lightly, the ice in the glass lightly bumped into the inside of the glass, making a light 'clink' noise. "Ice tea! Come on, you know you want some!"

Soturi suddenly glared at the dragoness.

"I said!" Soturi growled lightly at the somewhat annoying Dragoness. "No…" He muttered.

Mary pouted.

"Come on, what's the worst that could happen?" Mary asked. "Come on, it's very good!"

Soturi glared at the dragoness, but slowly eased up, and took the glass from her, and reluctantly took a sip. As he did, the group could've sworn he…enjoyed it?

"Well?" Mary asked, hopefully.

Soturi was silent for a moment, and nodded. "It's fine…"

Mary suddenly leapt up into the air and cheered happily. "YES!"

Soturi rolled his eyes at the overly happy Dragoness…but despite her being annoying, she was actually very nice and good natured. Despite the stories his people had of her father. The Gargoyles believed that Janus, being the Dragon-God of mischief, was a prankster who loved to make the lives of mortals miserable. The gargoyles believed that if they didn't interact with the Dragon-God, he would leave them alone.

However, the gargoyle belief was mostly different from their dragon cousins' belief, the belief that Janus played harmless pranks on mortals.

Janus walked back to the group, holding five back packs, one for each of them.

"Here you are," Janus said. "You each have three days of supplies in each bag, hopefully you won't be in the desert for that…"

Janus slowly sat down and his eyes were serious.

"Be warned," Janus said. "The Desert of Noctis is very dangerous, and has hostile native animals in it's sands…the sands grow hotter during the day, which you will all need to fly in order not to get burned by the sands. There are very few oasis out there…if you find one, stop there and refill your water canteens, especially you Tula." Janus said to the water dragoness.

"Water dragons' natural environment are moist regions, going into a desert such as noctis is dangerous, you will dehydrate easily…Spyro can use his water element to help keep you wet…if you grow tired, you must breath water on the sand, and rest before flying again…"

Tula swallowed lightly and trembled…she never liked deserts. Mentem wrapped a comforting wing around his little sister, and Tula calmed lightly at her older brother's embrace.

"You'll be fine," Mentem said calmly. "I promise…"

Tula nodded.

Janus slowly leaned forward.

"Whatever Nigromantii wants, is most likely in The Forgotten City, approximately a half days journey from this city." Janus said. "The Forgotten City is an ancient Dragon Temple, over taken by countless years of sand storms…there is an ancient archive beneath the ruins of the city, most likely those archives have something he wants."

Slowly, Janus stood up.

"Stay strong, and stay together." Janus said to his nephew and the rest of his friends.

Spyro and the others nodded, grabbing their packs and making their way to the main gate that lead into the Desert of Noctis…

When they arrived at the archway of the gate, the group looked out at the vast empty desert…there was nothing but sand…the city was literally the only settlement for miles, the other settlements that were actually near a desert that wasn't as hot as Noctis was about a three day's fly from the city.

Spyro took a deep breath…how he wished Cynder was here with him, he wished he hadn't sent her to Lumimyrsky…but he knew that she was a skilled leader, and that she could rescue Hera. But he still wished she was with him.

Mentem stepped forward, adjusting his hat lightly.

"Well?" He asked. "Let's get on with it…"

The others nodded. Spyro quickly flew up into the air, followed by Mori, Tula and Mentem. Soturi waited briefly as his dragon friends flew off a ways, and then followed close behind. As the group flew through the air, little did the group realize that many forces were at play in the desert.

….

In the ruins of The Forgotten City in the catacombs bellow the once proud Sand Dragon city, a glowing white streak appeared in the halls as if it were a tear in the air…coming through the glowing "Tear", was a mysterious light blue mist that suddenly filled the halls of the main temple.

As the mist spread throughout the temple, the sound of lamented cries and screams could be heard by whoever stepped into the mist. Suddenly, the "Tear" grew larger, and two creatures stepped out of the tear…the bodies of the creatures were covered in black organic like substance and their fingers were long jagged knives. The teeth of the creatures' almost resembled yellow needles…black tar fell out of their mouth as they snarled and got onto all fours, and howled into the ruins of the temple.

…..

**Lumiyrsky: Persephone's quarters**

Persephone smirked as she meditated in front of her personal pool of visions; the only form of light in her room came from the crimson colored light of the pool of visions. Slowly, Persephone opened her eyes, and her crimson eyes flashed briefly.

"Let the discord…roam free…"


	22. Chapter 21: The Forgotten City

**Chapter 21: The Forgotten City**

**A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for the slow update! Also, for viewers who are reading Native Avenger's fanfics, there is a reason why Native hasn't updated in a while. His computer has been acting up so he won't be able to update as much. **

**But you guys should expect an update soon.**

**Anyways! Back onto Spyro's journey!**

**...**

Spyro and the rest of his group have been flying over the Desert of Noctis for about half the day now. Janus was right, there were very fee oasis' in the desert and Tula found herself getting dehydrated quite often, forcing them to make various stops.

Thankfully, the purple dragon had plenty of mana and he used his water element to cool her and the others off whenever they stopped. The only ones who refused his water were Soturi and Mentem since they didn't want to get their cloaks wet.

The desert itself looked like planes of endless sands with little life. They spotted what looked like a giant scorpion earlier, but they were flying at the time, so they didn't have to fight it.

It was now noon and the Tula was starting to feel dehydrated again. Mentem stayed close to her side in case she got too tired to fly and even Mori stayed close just in case. They began to notice what looked like buildings in the distance and Mori squinted her eyes to get a better look.

"I think that's the Forgotten City!" she informed everyone.

"Really?! That's good! Tula really needs some shade right now!" Mentem replied as they drew closer and closer to the city ruins.

…

As the group descended to the ground under a covered area of the city, Tula suddenly collapsed onto the stone ground, panting deeply and sweating rapidly. Mentem quickly kneeled next to his little sister and opened a canteen of water, and quickly let her drink the water. Tula drank the water quickly to the point where Mentem had to stop her from drinking the water too quickly, to prevent Tula's body from going into shock from the cold water.

After a minute, Tula had fully recovered from the heat, strong enough for her to walk. To make sure that Tula was alright, Spyro breathed water on Tula, which helped Tula's strength come back greatly.

The group then made their way towards the center of the ancient city and admired the ancient architecture of the city, which resembled the Temple back in the swamps where Spyro had been trained in the first four elements. The main temple was the only real main building of the "city". Luckily for the group, specifically Tula, there were various structures that provided shade for them. As the group approached the main temple, they walked up the stone steps and to the door leading into the entrance hall. The door was made of an unknown metal, and had the engraving of nine dragons outlining the main door, with a single dragoness in the center of the circle, the dragoness was bigger than the other dragons.

The others realized that the nine dragon carvings were of the Nine Dragon Gods, including Emera and Janus, and the center dragoness being Spectra herself. Spyro took a step forward, the door then opened automatically and the group walked in.

As soon as the group entered through the door, they walked down a flight of stairs which descended a few feet, and entered a large entrance hall. When the group walked into the center of the entrance hall, the entrance door slammed shut with a loud CLANG!

The group then looked at the entrance hall, seeing another flight of steps ahead of them that split off into two staircases. To their left and right were staircases that went into the lower chambers of the temple. Other than light that came through a beautiful stain glass window that reflected various beautiful colors, the hall was dark…and there was an mysterious mist that hovered on the ground of the hall. The mist was colored a light blue and almost seemed…intimidating as the group walked further into the entrance hall.

As they walked, Tula stopped. Mentem noticed his sister looking uneasy.

"Tula…What's wrong?" Mentem asked calmly.

Tula continued to look around rapidly, seeming very tense.

"Do you hear that?" Tula asked in a frightened tone.

Spyro, Mori and Soturi turned to the water Dragoness…it was obvious she was frightened, most likely she was imagining things. Mentem was about to comfort his little sister, most likely she hadn't fully recovered from the heat. But he stopped, hearing a faint cry in the distance; the others heard it as well.

Everyone tensed, forming a protective circle, everyone covering each other's back and looking from all sides. That's when they heard the sound again…this time more clearly. It was the cry of a little girl.

"Who's there?!" Spyro called out into the hall, trying to see if there was anyone around.

The cry came out again, this time they could hear someone yell.

_"WHAT'S HAPPENING!" _

_"OH GODDESS! HELP ME!"_

_"I…CAN'T…BREATH!"_

_"IT'S EVERYWHERE!"_

_"MOTHER!"_

_"KACKAWAN! HOLD ON!" _

The cries continued, soon, hundreds and thousands of voices could be heard in the hall. But that was not the strange thing, next, the fog began to fill the entire room until Spyro and the others could hardly see themselves.

_"Valkyrie Goddess…now our swords cross!" _

_"Kain Shinigami!" _

_"Kain! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" _

"Mentem…" Tula whispered tiredly.

Mentem quickly turned to his sister, seeing her body wobble.

"I can't…" Tula whispered, barely audible. Suddenly, she fell to the ground with a soft thump.

"TULA!" Mentem yelled, kneeling down next to Tula. The others turned to the fear dragon, who was desperately searching for a pulse. "No…" Mentem said, shaking his head.

Before the others could react, Mori began to wobble lightly, and fall to the ground, followed by Soturi. Soon Mentem himself felt dizzy, and collapsed. Spyro looked around desperately at his friends…soon; he felt his head grow light, and his heart slow in pace. Slowly, Spyro fell to the ground, the fog engulfing him and the others.

…

_Spyro had no idea whether he was dead…or dreaming. But the next thing he saw after hitting the floor, was himself on a white sand beach, with ink colored water splashing up the shores, much like the dreamworld he had entered when he returned to Warfang after Dante's Freezer. Spyro slowly stood up, and looked around…above him was a cliff, which rested a tall temple, the temple did not have the same structure of any of the Dragon Realm's temples. _

_But Spyro's attention soon changed when he heard the sound of an explosion atop the temple roof. Spyro saw an explosion of violet and black flames, and soon he saw a giant twenty foot mechanical dragon fly off the top of the roof and circled the temple, roaring violently. Soon, another explosion appeared, this time the explosion had various colors like a spectrum and hit the dragon, sending it crashing to the beach bellow. The mechanical dragon slammed into the white sands and quickly stood up on it's hind feet, revealing itself to be bipedal, and released a mechanical roar. _

_The armor of the mechanical dragon was colored black and had various violet markings across it's chest and head. It's tail flailed around violently and had purple fire like spikes radiating off of the tail and up the dragon's spine. The horns of the dragon were blood red and it's "Eyes" glowed a similar blood red aura. _

_Suddenly, Spyro heard the sound of a horse cry, and a horse's gallop. Spyro then turned towards the cliff to see a flash of light atop the cliff, when the light cleared, Spyro could see a creature he thought only existed in stories, a human._

_The human was female and had pale skin and brunette colored hair, her were a dark brown color, and wore thoroughly polished platinum colored armor, which when the light struck the armor, released a spectrum of colors radiating off of it. The armor had a golden dragoness insignia on the chest guard, and the woman wore a cloak around her left arm, made entirely of white feathers, and wore a cloth around her waist made of the same feathers. _

_In her hand, was a medium sized one handed sword, which was a similar color to the woman's armor, the blade had various markings running down the side. On her left arm, was a platinum colored shield with the same golden dragoness insignia._

_The woman sat atop a black horse wearing polished claded platinum colored armor. The horse's eyes glowed silver and reared briefly. _

_The woman pointed her blade at the mechanical dragon._

_"Leave now!" The woman demanded. _

_Suddenly, the dragon became engulfed in violet flames, and seconds later, the dragon vanished, revealing a single human man standing where the fierce mechanical dragon once stood. _

_The man had naturally tanned skin, and long shoulder length coal black hair and was six feet tall. He wore pitch black armor with blood red markings running across the chest guard and side guards of the armor. Strapped to his back, was a massive blade, which was half the man's size and looked extremely heavy for even Soturi and the gargoyles to wield. _

_The man scoffed lightly, his brown eyes flashing a violet aura; he then reached for his sword, and now held the blade with in a reverse grip…WITH OUT EFFORT! _

_"Christina," The man answered to the woman. "You should know that by now, my desire for Spectra's death is undying…not until The Seeress is safe."_

_"Then work alongside us!" The woman called out, now identified as Christina. "The Goddess is saddened as well from the countless times the seeress has died!"_

_"THE SEERESS DOES NOT NEED YOUR GODDESS' PITY!" The man roared. The blade now became engulfed in violet flames. _

_The woman quickly dismounted her armored steed, and leapt off of the ledge of the cliff, and onto the sands with inhuman like effort. Christina held up her sword and shield, and charged forward, her blade engulfed in blue electricity._

_The two warriors soon clashed midway, and the two released a flurry of strikes at one another, multi colored flew outwards as the two warriors' blades clashed. Despite his blade's size, the man effortlessly swung his giant sword with ease, slashing upwards at the woman, who deflected the blow with her shield, and then countered by lashing out to the side with her blade, striking the man's shoulder. _

_The man scoffed, shrugging off the blow to his paldron, and he countered by slashing the blade downwards, creating a powerful shockwave of violet flames. Christina held up her blade, and planted her feet into the ground, she slid briefly from the effects of the shockwave, but quickly charged forward, she held her blade up and swung it to the side, suddenly, the ink colored water behind the man flew forward, and wrapped itself around the man, restraining him._

_Christina then jumped upwards at the struggling warrior, who broke free of the water by engulfing his armor in the same flames around his blade. The man swung his fiery blade at Christina, who lashed out with her blade, but as the blades connected, Christina's blade somehow phased through the man's blade, creating flurry of white feathers to fly forward, temporarily blinding the warrior's vision. _

_The woman landed knee deep in the water, and waited for her opponent to come at her. _

_The warrior burned the feathers around him by using the flames around his armor to kick up flames around him. The warrior lunged forward, and the two equally matched warriors continued to fight. The water splashed as each warrior struck at one another, but neither side gained advantage over the other. From Spyro's perception, both were equally, despite their display of power._

_Soon, the two warrior's battle reached it's climax when the man's left hand glowed a light blue aura, revealing mist in his palm…the same mist from the temple!_

_"In the name of the seeress!" The man yelled to Christina. "You will die!" _

_Soon, the sphere of light blue mist flew into the air, and soon touched the clouds of the night sky…and the night sky itself…suddenly, a large portal of violet light appeared above the temple…and a meteorite appeared through the portal, descending towards the temple. _

_"NO!" Christina yelled, her eyes widened in horror. _

_The man turned to her and smirked as the meteor began it's descent to the temple. _

_The woman lunged forward, her blade extended. The man was about to strike out, until the woman slammed her left foot into the water, summoning forth thousands of vines from the sand bellow…the vines became so numerous, that Spyro saw the ground crack and the vines soon formed a tree that extended two hundred feet in the air, with the man incased inside._

_Spyro was amazed at the display of elemental power he saw, not even Terrador could…summon a TREE that extended that high into the air…_

_Spyro saw the woman run towards the cliff. In one bound, she leapt atop the cliff, and mounted her horse, who galloped towards the giant temple. Spyro quickly flapped his wings, and followed the woman. _

_The woman quickly leapt off of her stead's back, and then yelled. "ALPHA!" _

_Soon, a bright golden light appeared from inside the temple, and a white dragon with gold markings appeared in the air above the temple, and dove towards Christina, and caught her, tossing her up on his back. The dragon quickly ascended into the air above the temple. _

_Spyro then saw Christina's blade glow a brilliant spectrum of colors. As the two companions flew up at the descending meteor, Christina lashed out horizontally with her sword, creating a crescent shaped blast of energy, which flew up to the meteor, and collided with it. Despite the meteor's size and the power it radiated, the blast of energy cut through the meteor, seconds later, the meteor was obliterated, and became nothing more but small glowing specs of light that descended towards the temple harmlessly like snow._

_Spyro saw the dragon circle the temple, Christina still mounted on it's back. _

_Spyro smiled, amazed at the power the two radiated…but his smile faded when he saw smoke appear from the inside of the tree, seconds later, the tree was obliterated by an explosion of violet flames, which turned the tree to nothing back ash. The warrior that was encased in the tree walked forward from the ashy remains of the tree, and looked up at the temple, more specifically at Christina and her dragon companion, who were now on the highest tower of the temple, starring down at The man._

_The two rivals glared at one another, until the man smirked and scoffed. Slowly, the flames around his sword extinguished, he then strapped his blade to his back, and turned towards the water. Suddenly, violet flames appeared around the man, and he transformed into the giant mechanical dragon. With one last roar, the mechanical dragon then flew into the air, and flew towards the ocean…the battle was over._

_Suddenly, Spyro felt the ground around him tremble, and soon, his eyes opened, seeing golden light._

_…_

Spyro slowly stood up, the fog still around him and his unconscious companions, slowly, his body radiated a golden light, which soon extended outwards in a powerful push, and caused the fog to recede.

When the fog had completely vanished, Spyro noticed his companions began to awaken…healthy, even Tula.

When everyone had woken up and were standing up, Mori shook her head.

"Tell me you all felt that?" She asked, her voice slightly shaken, but was growing stronger by the second.

"I felt it…" Mentem said, the normally calm dragon, visibly shaken. "It sounded…like death…"

He turned to Tula, who looked at the ground somewhat wearily, he wrapped a wing to comfort his sister, who smiled and nodded at him assuring.

"I'm fine…" Tula said. "I don't know what happened…"

Spyro looked at Soturi, who looked at him.

"You sensed it to?" Spyro asked. The gargoyle nodded.

"The lament of the suffering…" The Gargoyle said.

Spyro nodded and looked towards the various staircases. "We need to keep moving."

He said, the others nodded. Before Mori asked where they should go, they soon heard a loud screeching come from one of the staircase to their right that lead bellow the temple. With a nod from the others, Spyro led on.

...

Spyro led his group further into the temple ruins and closer to the screeching. They soon came across a door made out of stone that had the same dragon images as the door that led them into the temple in the first place. The group could hear the faint screeching on the other end of the door and what could also be described as fighting.

Once Spyro was close enough, the door slid open by itself, and what they saw was horrifying. They saw two very different creatures fighting one another.

One of the creatures were the foot tall creatures that stood on arched hind legs. They had six glowing yellow ryes and their yellow teeth appeared to be like needles. The same mist that caused the group to pass out earlier was being exhaled by the creatures. Their fingers were long, jagged, and looked extremely sharp. It looked like they were also drooling a tar substance. There were two of these monsters.

The second creatures were just as terrifying. These creatures were skeletons of what appeared to be cheetahs and lions. Their eye sockets were glowing blue and they were each wearing either tattered robes or rusty body armor. Most of them were armed with a shield and curved sword, but a few others were carrying a shield that was almost the size of their body and a sharp spear.

The two monsters were fighting each other, but the Banshee creatures with the glowing yellow eyes were coming out on top. The skeletons got a few good hits in, but the monsters were just too fast and easily dodged their attacks.

"Um... Spyro... what should we do?" Tula asked as she looked at the two fighting creatures with fear.

The purple dragon was honestly too stunned to answer and he warched the fighting with wide eyes. The skeletons were terrifying enough, but those Banshees were straight up nightmarish and he's never seen anything like them before.

Not wanting to waste any time, Soturi spoke up.

"Fight those two yellow eyes monstrosities. We will deal with the undead afterwords." the Gargoyle spoke with a heavy frown as took out his spear and held it two hands.

The others glanced at him and nodded slowly. They were still shocked by the fight, but their friend's determination set them slightly at ease. They each adopted combat stances before they rushed towards the Banshees.

As soon as the group entered the now three way battle, the undead quickly spotted the new enemies and spun to engage them. But before the skeletons could attack, Spyro, deciding now was a good time to use his new elements, jumped into the air flapped his wings in one powerful swipe, suddenly, a strong gust of air flew forward, knocking back the Banshee's and the undead, some of the undead shattering into hundreds of ones once crashing into the stone walls.

The Banshee's unleashed a powerful screech and lunged forward towards the group. Soturi roared and charged forward at one of the beasts, and impaled it with his spear and pushed the beast back, however, the Banshee was not harmed from the thrust of the spear and merely released a screech as it and Soturi tried over power the other.

Several of the undead attacked the four dragons, only for Tula and Mori to jump into the air, and let out a combined breath attack of both scolding hot water and an earth shock wave, which struck several undead and caused them to shatter to pieces. Mentem engaged the undead in close combat, knowing his fear breath wouldn't be much help, but Mentem didn't need his element. He slashed out with his spear tail blade, easily deflecting strikes from the undead. One time, he sliced off an undead's head and used the force of his fear breath to knock the now headless skeleton into others.

Meanwhile, Spyro helped Soturi battle the two Banshees. During the battle, Spyro revealed his Wind, Shadow and Stone breaths, which he had unlocked during the ship ride to the city of Noctis. When he used his stone "Breath", using the breath he summoned over a hundred small, but very sharp, pebbles which flew out like bullets which would shred an enemy apart.

Using his shadow breath, he used shadow flames, like Cynder, and tried to perform a shadow strike, but due to not being trained by Shade, the Shadow Guardian, his shadow cloak was not perfect. But it still got the job done. Despite the new abilities Spyro had acquired, the Banshees seemed to be resistant to any of his and Soturi's attacks. Soturi used his strength to slam the Banshees into the wall, and tried to avoid their dagger like claws.

At one point, Soturi was able to slam a Banshee into the ground, and proceed to pommel the monster. However, the beast suddenly blew out the light blue mist. Soturi growled lightly as he shielded his eyes, the next thing he heard were the same cries of the dead. Soturi slowly felt his strength leave him and he began to kneel down as the Banshee continued to breath the mist on him.

"SOTURI!" Spyro yelled. Spyro quickly blew an ice blast at the Banshee, catching it's attention and drawing it to him.

But as Spyro prepared to attack the beast, Spyro suddenly felt the beast that he had been fighting tackle him and pinned him to the ground. Suddenly, the beast began to breath the same blue mist in Spyro's face. Then, the other Banshee did the same as well. Soturi struggled to recover, but his strength was slowly trying to come back as he tried to help the descendant of Spectra.

The others were occupied by the undead soldiers, and were unable to help their friend.

As Spyro succumbed to the mist, he began to hear voices again.

_"We are the beginning, we are the end. We are, DISCORD! We are Mortality's true face!"_

Spyro clinched his teeth tightly, and slowly, he raised his paw up towards his neck, towards his armor necklace, and slammed his index talon onto the trigger jewel. Then, in a flash of gold light, his armor appeared. Suddenly, a golden field appeared around Spyro, preventing the mist from penetrating the field and reaching Spyro. The Banshee's suddenly, for the first time, looked terrified and jumped to the ceiling, and crawled away from the light, suddenly fearful.

_"The Light! He wields the Light! Her blessing!"_

Spyro glared at the Banshees as they tried to hide from him. Spyro closed his eyes, and focused his elemental mana.

_'If the nine elements can't stop them…' _Spyro began. _'Then I call on the power of Convexity!'_

Spyro took a deep breath, focusing his energy to summon Convexity. But as Spyro focused his energy, he felt that his Convexity mana was…different…as if…it weren't even Convexity. As Spyro prepared his breath attack, Spyro's eyes shifted from purple, to gold. With one powerful breath, Spyro unleashed the breath attack.

But this time, instead of the purple ray of light, this time a golden ray of light shot forward, a spectrum visible from the golden ray appeared around it and struck one of the Banshees, the Banshee let out a painful screech as the golden ray caused the beast to disintegrate into nothingness. Spyro then focused his new breath attack on the other beast, killing it instantly as it shared the same fate as it's brother. When the beast was dead, The Necromancer's undead soldiers turned their attention on the dragon. Spyro looked to the undead in disgust and he heard a dragoness' voice in his mind say _'Free them…my grandson…freetheir bodies, let their souls rest.'_

Subconsciously, Spyro nodded, and soon his wings flapped lightly as he hovered in the air a foot from the ground, preparing a Fury.

As Spyro focused his energy, the others noticed his scales begin to turn gold and a spectrum of colors appeared around in a circle as the energy gathered. The undead charged at Spyro. But as too were about to strike, Spyro opened his eyes and unleashed the fury.

Soon, a wave of golden light flew forward, and incinerated the undead around him, but not just in the chamber the group was in, but the blast flew forward throughout the temple, and incinerated any traces of The Necromancer's undead slaves, freeing the captive bodies of the dead as they fell to ash. When the fury subsided, Spyro slowly lowered to the ground, his scales returning to their normal purple color along with his eyes.

When the light finally died, the group approached Spyro, who shook his head lightly from the power withdrawal. Spyro deactivated his armor and looked up at the others tiredly.

"What…was…that…" Mori asked, surprised. Tula and Mentem looked at one another, shocked as well.

"I…" Spyro began "I felt my grandmother…she…"

"Granted you her power." Soturi said emotionlessly. "Nigawes' blood gave you the power over The Element of Light…to our people, even if we hate Nigawes, still believe that Light is the purest of the nine elements…and the most powerful."

"Weird…" Mentem said. "But you can't deny that it was powerful as hell."

Spyro nodded. "I…felt so powerful…as if I could…do anything…but I knew what I wanted to do, to kill the Banshees and the Undead…but at the same time…I didn't kill them…it was almost like I…set them free…especially the Banshees." Spyro explained, tiredly. "What were they?"

"Who knows…" Tula explained.

"We will ask Mist Eyes when we return to the dragon city." Soturi said. "Right now, we have to fulfill his request."

The others nodded, and followed the tunnels. As they approached the tunnels, several torches began to light themselves, lighting up the previously dark tunnels. Eventually as they went deeper underground, the group approached a long bridge…with a platform in the center of a large empty chamber. As the group walked on the platform, they looked up to see an opening in the ceiling, with light shining down on the center of the platform…right over a…scroll? Spyro and the others approached the scroll, and saw that is was raveled up and had a crystal that served as a "Lock".

Spyro tilted his head and slowly reached for the scroll, and grabbed it. Spyro examined the scroll, and opened it up…only to reveal it was…blank?

"This is what That Necromancer guy you called was after?" Tula asked, disappointed. "It's blank."

But right as Tula said those words…the scroll began to glow, next thing they knew, a portal made of spectral lights appeared right underneath the group…and they fell right through it instantly…leaving the empty temple behind.

….

**City of Noctis:**

It was close to midnight in the city of Noctis. While the city population was getting ready for bed for the evening, Janus and his daughter sat among the members of his caravan, who were all eating dinner and talking about the day's events. As Mary was about to take a bite out of a cooked chicken leg, a glowing portal appeared above Janus' group and soon five figures came falling out of it, and landing right in front of Janus and Mary.

Spyro, Mori, Tula, Mentem and Soturi all looked up at the Dragon-God dizzily, who grinned at the group.

"NEPHEW AND FRIENDS!" Janus greeted. "I see the five of you have returned to us in one piece!"

Spyro looked up at his uncle, confused.

"Uncle…Janus? What are we doing here…one moment we were inside this chamber…and the next." Spyro said confused, until he looked at the "Blank" scroll in his paws.

Janus chuckled.

"I see you have found a key to The Spectrum." Janus said.

"The what?" Mori asked dizzily as she shook her head to readjust her vision.

"I you all look hungry, eat first! And then I'll explain!" Janus said happily. Soon, several dragons approached the group, and put plates of food in front of the new arrivals, the group gratefully accepted the food. Janus began to explain the scrolls importance, and why Nigromantii was after it. As he spoke, Janus held the scroll in his paws. "The Spectrum, is a place that binds both Time and Space together…it connects one world to another world, one time to another time…one world to another time and so on and so forth."

Janus paused while opening the scroll.

"you see," Janus continued. "Nigromantii is able to travel to other worlds and times, however, he requires hundreds of scrolls to access various places. He even has a scroll for this world. However, the scrolls could be considered…inferior to this one."

"How so?" Mori asked, interested. "What makes this scroll any different?

Janus smiled and then said. "This scroll, allows one to travel not anywhere they wish, but also any WHEN."

"Wait," Mentem said. "You're saying…that scroll can allow you to time travel? To ANY time?"

Janus nodded. "Yes. But that is also the reason why it is so dangerous…imagine, if someone like Malefor got his claws on this scroll…he could go the Dragon Realm's era of creation, and take control of all life if he ever acquired it.

"For myself and all of my siblings, we can travel to all of the worlds and timelines at will, since our mother created them all. But for mortals, they require specific items to allow them to travel. The First chronicler sought to create an item which could allow a mortal to travel through The spectrum, anywhere and any when they wanted. However, when he realized what he had created, he sealed it away…burning all traces that it existed." Janus paused. "However, it seemed that Nigromantii knew about it for quite some time…"

Slowly, The Scroll became enveloped in emerald green flames, and vanished seconds later.

"The scroll will safe in my older brother, Magnus', hands. He will make sure that it never enters the mortal realms again." Janus said. The group nodded. Slowly, Janus stood up. "And one more thing before you all retire…I am aware that you encountered…creatures in the Forgotten city…creatures you have not seen before."

Spyro nodded. "What were they uncle?"

Janus, for the first time during their conversation, had a grave look on his face.

"Trust me Nephew…you do not wish to know…I hope you never learn of their…true origins." Janus said before leaving the group and walking away with his daughter to their tent.

The group looked at one another, and continued to eat their dinner…their minds shifting to lighter matters. Not worrying about anything else. They accomplished the task, the acquired the scroll, and it was safe.

But deep in Spyro's mind…he remembered the voices he heard when he entered the blue mist…and the vision he saw of the two humans battling…when he returned to Warfang, he would ask the Guardians for answers.

…..

_The White Isle:_

Ignitus flipped through the pages of the book that he had recently opened, a book that predated back to the original Chronicler. As he flipped through the pages…he learned the events of history long forgotten…the creation of mortality itself, and the sacrifice The Goddess Spectra made for Mortality to live in freedom and peace…at the cost of her own freedom.

Mortality's aggression, despair, anger, death…even their own blood…it all made sense…if _it_ were free…the past, present and the future would be destroyed.

Why would Persephone wish to carry through with this insane plot? What would she gain?

Ignitus rubbed his temples. The previous Fire Guardian of the Empire knew he had to take action…but with his own duty to The Goddess…there was little he could do…but there was one thing he could do…warn Spyro and the others.

Slowly, Ignitus held up his light bluish-grey scaled paw, and soon a blue crystal appeared hovering in the center of his palm. Ignitus took a deep breath and opened his eyes as the crystal glowed brighter.

…


	23. Chapter 22: Lumimyrsky Execution

**Chapter 22: Lumimyrsky Execution**

Within the freezing climate of Dante's Freezer; Cynder, Ven, Blaze, and Spes were flying towards the city of Lumimyrsky. They had been flying for about a day, but they were finally able to see the nordic city in the distance. The skies were thankfully clear and the weather conditions were fairly good for flying.

"So, what are we gonna do once we get to Lumimyrsky?!" Ven shouted over the wind as they flew.

"Once we get there, we're gonna find a tavern or someplace like that to warm up! Then we'll start asking some questions!" Cynder answered as they got closer and closer to the city.

"We should probably land now! We don't want the guards at the gates to get nervous by us just flying in there without permission!" Spes commented.

The other three dragons agreed with the ex-soldier's suggestion and they all began to glide down to the snowy path leading to the city. Once they had all landed, they walked over to the city gates and two guards could be seen keeping watch.

"Halt, travelers! What business do you have in Lumimyrsky?" one of the wolf guards questioned with a Russian accent; this accent was common in Dante's Freezer.

"We're just visiting. None of us have ever been to this city and we wanna know what it's like." Cynder replied with a sweet smile, not wanting the guards to know their true intentions.

The wolf just scoffed at them with a slight glare.

"You don't belong here. Lumimyrsky is no place for dragons like you four. I'll let you in, but me and the other guards will be watching you like a hawk." the guard stated with a heavy frown.

Cynder wanted to scold the guard for acting so rudely to her and her friends, but she didn't want to push their luck either. She just stayed quiet and led her friends through the city gates and into Lumimyrsky.

…..

Upon entering the city, the four dragons entered the middle class district. As of now, it was close to midnight, meaning not many people were moving about the streets of the cold city. As of now, a cold blizzard was blowing in the city; snowflakes covered the surroundings almost like a curtain.

As the group made their way further into the city, Cynder stopped briefly as they walked passed a temple, assuming it was to honor The Goddess…however, Cynder noticed that there was a statue of a dragon…instead of a dragoness…yet the Dragon had the same adornments most statues of Spectra had…the same necklace with the nine colored jewels on it…

Ven walked up to Cynder, noticing her confusion.

"Uhh…" Ven began. "How to explain this…"

"The wolves of Lumimyrsky view Spectra as a male…not female…" Cynder said, deducing it quickly. "Right?"

Ven nodded, scratching the back of her head.

"Yep…that's why City wolves are different than the wolves from the tribes." Spes said, approaching the two dragonesses. "This minor difference in their religions is…awkward to the cultures."

Cynder sighed, shaking her head.

"Personally, it just sounds weird." Cynder muttered. Blaze nodded in agreement.

"The sooner we find Hera, the sooner we leave this ice ball of a city." Blaze muttered. "I hate this place already."

The group continued to walk through the city, wondering where to start their search for their captive friend. As of now…Hera could be anywhere. Spes suggested that the group go to one of the inns. For one, the group had been flying for a long time and needed to regain their strength, the would need it if they were to enter combat to free Hera, and perhaps they could listen for information, since it has been assumed that Lumimyrsky had Forsworn influence in it's criminal underground, since Oculos was once the city's military general.

As the group made their way to an inn to rest up, they failed to notice that one mole, a beggar, had been eyeing the group as they made their way down the streets and towards the inn. To the mole, he recognized them…and knew what they were here for.

The mole smirked and muttered to him, "Persephone will pay me dearly for this info."

….

The group had entered an inn, and had paid for a room with four beds. But before they decided to retire for the night, the group decided to order some dinner before they headed off to bed. As the group ate their dinner in a far corner of the inn's first floor. Cynder occasionally looked at the various customers; some were snow wolves (both tribal and city), snow cheetahs, dragons (mainly ice) and surprisingly moles.

While the group ate, Spes eyes a small group of ice dragons in the corner, who seemed to be whispering. Spes took his eyes off of the dragons and pretended not be paying attention, he didn't bother telling the others so that way it seemed more convincing that the group were minding their own business.

Spes then began to hear more into the dragons' conversation.

"Hear there's going to be an execution tomorrow." One ice dragon said.

"Same here," An ice dragoness replied. "Lady Persephone isn't all too happy to hear that Benedict ratted out that that wolf was held in Fort Shinigami, as soon Commander Orm learned from that mentally ill Poison Dragoness, Hera, that it was Benedict that told the demoness grandson and his friends about Fort Shinigami…well…I'd really hate to be in Benedict's shoes."

"What is he going to be tried for, so the public believe he actually committed a crime?" The first ice dragon asked. The ice dragoness smirked.

"He's going to be tried for assisting the Forsworn." The ice dragoness replied, this caused all of the dragons in the group to laugh at the irony.

"So, see you guys at the gallows at seven A.M.?" The ice dragoness asked.

"Wouldn't mind seeing the drunk get what's coming to him." Another Ice dragon said. The others agreed and soon left their table, drinks in their paws.

Spes looked to the others, who were looking up at him at the realization that he had found something.

"That atlawa Benedict is going to be executed tomorrow morning." Spes whispered to the others. "If anything, he could tell us where a Forsworn safe house was located at."

"Good idea," Cynder said. "Now…we just rest and wait for the morning."

The others nodded in agreement, and continued on with their meal.

...

Within Orm's safehouse in Lumimyrsky, she and Jord were watching over Hera. They smiled as they watched the drugged Hera coloring in a coloring book that was meant for children. Seeing this made Orm and Jord feel like parents in a way.

They watched Hera childishly color the sky blue on the picture of a sunny meadow. She even hummed happily as she colored in the sky with scribbled marks.

"You know, Orm, I think this is the best experiment you've ever done." Jord whispered to his mate, making her look at him with a smile.

"I think so too. I don't like having to make her keep taking the toxin, but it'll have to do for now. I'm trying o make a permanent version." the Forsworn Poison Guardian informed him.

Jord nodded and looked outside. It was starting to get late and only the snow falling could be seen in the darkness of outside. Orm noticed how dark it was out too and stood up.

"Okay Little Sister, it's time for bed." she said sweetly as she turned to face Hera, who was now looking up from her coloring book.

"But I'm not sleepy, Big Sister..." the drugged poison dragoness whined childishly with puppy dog eyes.

"Now now, good dragonlings need to get sleep so they can be happy and healthy. Besides, it would make me happy if you went to sleep." Orm explained gently yet sternly.

"Okay, Big Sister." Hera spoke with a light sigh as she stood up.

Orm smiled and led her Little Sister to the bedroom she and Jord made for her. Hera smiled as she made her way over to the bed and quickly went under the pink blanket with only her head sticking out.

The Forsworn Poison Guardian took out the medicine she had Hera take every night and had her take it as usual.

"I know you don't like taking your medicine, but it's for your own good. You won't have to take them forever though, I promise." Orm spoke with a soft tone of voice and a smile.

Hera smiled back and nodded. Her caretaker tightly tucked her into bed before gently kissing her on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Little Sister. Sleep well." Orm said softly before she blue out the candle on the nightstand and walked out.

Once the door gently closed, Hera began to slowly get out of bed and walk over to the window. She glanced at the door before she opened the window and spit the medicine out and it fell to the snowy ground below.

"Ugh... Orm... what's happened to you?" Hera asked quietly in her normal voice as she began to remember everything that's happened to her. "How. could you do this to me? You're treating me like I'm a hatchling?" she whispered shakily as she began to blush heavily, feeling embarrassed that so many people have seen her acting like a two year old, including the Forsworn leaders.

She became lost in thought as she remembered all of these powerful dragons see her acting like a young child and she felt like crying from the amount of embarrassment she felt right now. None of them would ever take her seriously now.

"I need to keep making that cure.." Hera mumbled to herself before she jumped out the window and commenced to glide to the ground. Once she landed, she ran off into the night.

The poison dragoness did this every chance she got. If she could remember enough, she would spit her medicine out and go out collecting ingredients she can use to make a cure for the toxin that's still in her system.

This has caused Orm to believe that the medicine isn't as strong as it used to be because she'd find Hera acting more adult-like in the mornings. This is why she was trying to make a permanent to in. Neither of them knew that they were each developing a new potion however.

Once Hera had acquired a little more ingredients she needed, she made her way back to the Forsworn safe houses. There was just one more thing she needed to do before returning yo her room.

The poison dragoness made her way to Mörker's room and peeked her head into the window. She saw the Forsworn Shadow guardian sleeping in his comfortable looking bed while a much younger dragoness was huddled up in the corner.

It was too dark to see any details, but she knew exactly what she'd find in there. Hera has been visiting this room ever since she started sneaking out at night to look for ingredients.

'Good thing Mörker is a heavy sleeper.' she thought to herself as she slowly opened the window and made her way into the dark room.

The poison dragoness shut the window behind her before she made her way over to the young dragoness. She was enough to see that the child was a young shadow dragoness who was chained to the wall and she was covered in what looked like bruises and bug bites.

'How could anyone do this to their own sister?' Hera asked angrily in her head as she gently shook the child's shoulder. "Dusk, wake up." she whispered.

The young shadow Dragoness opened her eyes lightly as Hera lightly pushed the young five year old's shoulder. The dragonling, Dusk, looked up at Hera, at first fearfully, but then her eyes widened in relief and happiness.

"Hera!" Dusk almost yelled, but was stopped when Hera placed her index talon over the five year old's lips, telling her to keep quiet and gestured to Dusk's abusive older brother, who slept heavily on his bed.

Dusk nodded lightly, but quickly tried to hug Hera, but was chocked lightly when she reached the end of her restraints. Hera got closer so it eased the tension on Dusk's chains, so Hera could quietly envelope the young dragonling in a protective hug. Dusk buried her head into Hera's chest, Hera could hear the dragonling sob softly, Hera briefly stroked the back of Dusk's head, comforting the dragonling.

"He did it again…didn't he?" Hera whispered. Dusk nodded as she held back her sobs.

During Hera's nightly searches for the ingredients to her anti-Toxin to the toxin that Orm gave her nightly. But before she returned to her bedroom, she always visited Dusk. Starting the night she heard Dusk's sobs as she, Orm and Jord returned home, when Hera's adult mind returned to her during the night, she knew that Dusk was not crying "Tears of happiness".

When Hera first snuck into Morker's home, she found Dusk in this same spot, held back by a metal collar with a chain attached to the wall. Dusk had undergone constant abuse by her older brother, whom he blamed for the abuse he was forced to go through by his own father. These nightly visits was the only thing Dusk looked forward to during the day, knowing that Hera understood her, and was perhaps the only kind person she'd seen in years. During these visits, the bond between the two developed from siblings, to a mother-daughter relationship. Hera was Dusk's shoulder to cry.

"It's almost ready…" Hera whispered to Dusk as she stroked the back of the five year old's head. "When it's ready tomorrow night, I promise I will take you with me when I escape to Warfang."

Dusk nodded as she enjoyed her mother figure's embrace.

"Be strong for me sweetie." Hera said to the dragonling.

"I will…" Dusk whispered back. Hera nodded and reluctantly broke the hug. Dusk was very reluctant about breaking the hug, not wanting Hera to leave so soon. "Mommy…" She pleaded.

Hera felt a pang of sadness in her chest when Dusk called her that…Hera had never been a mother…she'd never given birth to a dragonling before…she was sterile, that news was one of the hardest to take in her life, second only to the death of Matthew, her husband. She didn't want to leave Dusk alone…she wished she could melt these chains with acid, and escape with Dusk this second…but with Hera's memories only half way restored, she couldn't risk Dusk's safety with her own mental state reverting to that of a two year olds…

The only thing she could do was wait until her anti-toxin was synthesized. Tomorrow, she would free Dusk, and escape to Warfang.

Before Hera left, she stroked Dusk's cheek and kissed her forehead one last time, and quietly opened the window, and flew out of Morker's safe house, and back to Orm and Jord's home. Hera quietly opened the window to her bedroom, and closed it silently when she entered her room. Slowly, Hera put her alchemy bag underneath her bed, and quickly crawled into the covers…luckily in time before Orm entered her room to check on Hera, which she did exactly at eleven p.m. at night. When Orm checked on her younger sister figure for a few seconds, she closed the door, and returned to her and Jord's bedroom.

When Hera was sure that Orm was in bed, Hera quickly got out of bed and grabbed her bag, opened it, and proceeded to dumb out the alchemy ingredients she needed. Then, from underneath her bed, she grabbed a wooden mixing bowl. Hera slowly began to smash the ingredients into a powder mixture. Hera smirked in victory.

One more day of this humiliation…one more day as a captive…one more day to let the anti-toxin develop…then…then she would be free to make her move and escape this city.

...

It was a cold day in Lumimyrsky and it surprisingly wasn't snowing. It was supposed to start snowing s lo during the second half of the day however and the skies were full of thick clouds.

Many of the city's citizens could be seen gathering around a stage in town square and they all talked amongst themselves. There were a few armed guards around the stage and a few others patrolling the rooftops, keeping a bird's eye view.

This stage was meant for hanging criminals and there was a trap door above some gallows. The trap door was meant for the person about to be hanged to fall through.

Oculos was standing next to the gallows with a calm expression and everyone watched asteo wolf guards escorted the Atlawa, Benedict, to the stage. His hands were roughly tied behind his back and he sported a frightened expression.

Many people in the crowd began to scream insults a him and he let out an unheard whimper as he was forced to stand next to Oculos. The Death Dragon blankly stared at him before he addressed the crowd.

"Citizens of Lumimyrsky! This Atlawa had been tried and found guilty of conspiring against this great city! This man has given vital information to our enemies and has single handedly endangered your families! For such a treacherous action, we are forced to put him down!" he boomed to the crowd, who started shouting and cheering for the former general.

Benedict's legs trembled in fear and he frantically looked at the crowd in horror. He spotted the Forsworn Guardians amongst the crowd and his eyes widened when he spotted Hera.

_'You people promised I wouldn't die..'_ he thought to himself with another whimper before one of the guards forced a burlap sack over his head.

"Now, before we have this man killed, it is only fair that give him a moment of silence! We may be executing him, but we are not savages!" Oculos boomed as he placed the noise over Benedict's neck.

The crowd reluctantly agreed with this and they each stayed silent while bowing their heads.

Cynder and her group watched as everyone around them bowed their heads in a moment of silence. She remembered Mentem explaining this Benedict character and how he promised the Atlawa that he wouldn't die if he gave the fear dragon information. In a way, she pitied the pour Atlawa.

"We need to do something." Ven whispered quietly with a heavy fown.

The black dragoness nodded in agreement and she rubbed her chin in thought. She soon got an idea and looked at her three companions.

"Ven, keep the civilians away from us and out of harms way. Me, Blaze, and Spes will free Benedict." she explained very quietly before the moment of silence ended and everyone raised their heads.

The others nodded in understanding and Cynder led Blaze and Spes up to the stage. They were not gonna let the Forsworn get away with killing someone who the felt didn't deserve to die like this.

Cynder slowly made her way through the crowd while they had their heads bowed. As Cynder approached the stage, she heard Oculos say to Benedict, in a loud enough voice for the crowd to hear.

"May The God have pity on your soul, Benedict." Oculos said.

After he said that, Cynder noticed the hint of amusement on Oculos' face, knowing how The Forsworn did not believe in Spectra, and viewed her as a Demoness Queen rather than a Goddess. Cynder soon was almost at the edge of the crowd. Cynder then noticed one of the executioners reach for the lever to activate the trap door. The young dragoness bit her lip, knowing her plan was going to cut it WAY to close for comfort.

The executioner pulled on the lever, causing the trap door to fall from underneath the Atlawa's feet. Cynder quickly rushed forward, as she did, Oculos looked in her direction, before the Dragon of Death could react, his eyes flashed yellow. Quickly, Cynder closed her eyes and breathed out a blast of shadows at Oculos' eyes.

The blast of shadows hit Oculos in the face, causing the former general to snarl while he was temporary blinded by the shadows.

Right at the moment of Oculos being hit with the shadows, Spes blew out an ice spike from the distance, which quickly severed the rope that threatened to strangle the Atlawa. Benedict then hit the ground, unharmed. Blaze quickly made his way through the crowd, jumping upwards and tackling a guard that attempted to attack Cynder from behind. Blaze then roared, creating a low fury of hot air that knocked back several civilians and guards, unharmed.

Cynder quickly reached Benedict, taking the burlap sack off of his head.

The atlawa's eye sight slowly adjusted, and he looked up at his savior in surprise.

"Move!" Cynder ordered as she pushed the atlawa up and the two quickly ran towards the crowd, followed by Blaze and Spes, but were soon surrounded by the Guards.

Cynder, Spes and Blaze stood around Benedict in a triangle and faced their enemies while adjusting into a combat stance. Many of the guards noticed who Cynder was, and recognized her as the Purple Dragon's mate and trusted companion. Soon, Oculos recovered and roared in slight irritation. Cynder looked to the others.

"Don't look into his eyes!" She ordered. Blaze and Spes nodded in acknowledgement. Cynder then screamed "VEN! NOW!"

"HERE I COME!" A dragoness cried from the air, suddenly, Ven came flying downward towards the crowd and landed in between her friends and the guards.

Suddenly, she hovered in the air, and flapped her wings once, creating a Wind Fury around herself and her friends, causing a whirlwind of wind and snowflakes to kick into the air, blocking everyone's vision. From a Distance, one of the surrounding buildings, the crowd failed to notice Cynder, Spes, Blaze and Ven standing atop the rooftop with Benedict not too far behind. When the whirlwind died down, Oculos glared at the guards under his command and stormed down to them.

"Find that Atlawa! NOW!" Oculos yelled.

The Forsworn guards nodded in fear and quickly began to bark orders to the other guards. It would only take a half hour later, the guards would learn that one of the heroes of the Dragon Realms, and a supposed inhabitant of The Empire, helped a traitor escape and was now on the top of Lumimyrsky's wanted list.

…..

Benedict didn't know what was worse, being hung in front of a crowd and being humiliated…or this…dangling off the side of Lumiyrsky's highest tower, which was a part of the Temple meant to worship The Goddess (or God in the case of the city's native Wolf inhabitants).

Spes held the Atlawa by the leg, and held him upside down from the ledge of the tower's highest window.

Cynder now stood next to Spes as Blaze and Ven looked on from where they sat a few feet away.

"Where are they hiding?" Cynder demanded. "Where are your Forsworn Safe houses?"

Benedict gulped heavily as he looked down at the streets several hundred feet bellow, if he was dropped, no doubt he'd be no better at the gallows.

"You promised that you'd leave me alone!" Benedict sobbed.

"How were we supposed to know that Orm would escape our custody?" Spes said. "It isn't our fault you're in this position!"

"You promised!" Benedict said again, obviously he was mentally breaking down.

Cynder felt some pity for the Atlawa, and looked at Spes, and motioned him to stop it. Spes nodded, and threw the Atlawa back inside the tower, the Atlawa soon landed on the wooden floor with a low thump. Cynder approached the traumatized Atlawa.

"Where is she?" Cynder asked. "Where is Hera?"

Benedict looked up at Cynder, and noticed that her eyes held no hostility now.

"She's…" Benedict began. "Located in Orm and Jord's safe house…not too far from here, in the nobles district.

"But…" Benedict continued. "Your friend, the Poison dragoness…that psycho, Orm…she did something to her…made the poor girl into a…toddler."

"How?" Blaze asked, standing up.

"I don't know…" Benedict said. "I saw Orm take her to a library once…and your friend…she just way to cheerful, ignorant to anything…giggled loudly…doing things a little dragonling girl would do. No doubt that bitch Orm gave her something; turning the poor girl into a dragonling mentally…she's now a laughing stock among the Forsworn…"

Cynder looked out at the City and then back at Benedict.

"Thank you for your help." Cynder said. "Stay off the streets," Slowly, the dragoness approached the Atlawa, and handed him thirty gold coins, more than enough to help someone get off of the streets and start a new life. "Leave the city, head for Irum, it's a city located near Boyzitbig…it's under Imperial control and has no Forsworn influence there. Take a new name…and hope we don't meet again."

The Atlawa nodded gratefully. Cynder turned to the others.

"Come on, we'll fly towards the ground, and make our way on foot to the Noble Quarters." Cynder said, the others nodded.

The four dragons then took to the snowy skies, and flew downwards towards an alleyway. When the four landed, they quickly stuck to the shadows as they made their way to the Noble homes. As they did, Spes looked to Blaze.

"What do you think they did to Hera?" Spes asked the young fire dragon.

Blaze shrugged. "Who knows…it's hard to believe that Hera would…just digress to a younger Dragonling."

Ven then looked at her two friends. "I've heard of Orm before…she and Hera used to be apprentices under the same master in a Poison Dragon Academy located in the swamps."

The two dragons looked at their friend, Cynder took interest and stopped.

"Hera's a good friend of mine before she joined our group, plus I take an interest in Alchemy as well, despite not being a Poison Dragoness," Ven began. "But from what she told me, Orm is like an older sister to Hera, and that Orm used to protect Hera from bullies in the Academy. Orm enjoyed making poisons that did nasty effects, but they didn't kill."

"So Orm protected Hera by…what?" Blaze asked. "Slipping something into a bully's drink?"

Ven nodded.

"Yeah," Ven said as she rubbed her chin. "When the two graduated, they both went their separate ways to join the Imperial Military during the intermission of the war with Gaul's forces…Hera joined the Medical Corp…and Orm joined the Special Tasks Corp."

"Special Tasks?" Cynder asked. "Wait…you mean Orm originally intended to assist the Army…"

Ven nodded. "Special Tasks Corps follow a code of ethics, they assist the main army in the shadows, but do not cause severe destruction to enemy civilians."

"Perhaps Orm was kicked out of Special Tasks…" Blaze asked. "You said she loved poisons, what if she developed something that the Guardians believed to be against their ethics?"

Spes rubbed his chin. "I think I heard of something from back when I was in the army…" Spes said, gaining the others attention to the Ice dragon veteran. "I once heard of a project that a Poison dragoness was developing and was wanting to use on the Ape civilians…it involved poisoning their water supply, air and crops. But Ignitus, Terrador, Volteer and Cyril disagreed with it and all voted against it…well…the Poison Dragoness who brought the idea up didn't like being rejected, and left the army. The name of the Dragoness was not revealed…but from what Ven has said,"

"That dragoness is Orm." Cynder said. "Then somewhere along the line the Forsworn met her, approved of her ideas...and now she's one of Persephone's top lieutenants."

The others were silent.

"We have to get Hera out of here." Cynder said to the others urgently. They nodded.

As the group were about to move, several spheres of water struck the group at once, covering them with ice cold water, soon, five dragons appeared, wearing the armor of the Lumimyrsky guard. Three were ice dragons, and two were water dragons (the ones who shot them with water). Soon, two of the ice dragons blew out an ice breath on the wet dragons, and froze them where they stood.

The leader of the guards approached Cynder and looked into her emerald eyes with his ice blue eyes.

"You're Cynder? Yes?" The leader asked.

Cynder nodded, unafraid, she knew she could break out if she wanted to, all she had to do was merge with the shadows, perform a shadow strike, and attack the guards. But she didn't, curious as to what the leader wanted…if he wanted to…he could've killed her immediately.

The leader looked to the other two ice dragons, and nodded. The dragons lightly slammed their paws into the ground, causing the ice to fall off of Cynder and the others at the will of the dragons.

"Follow us," The leader demanded. "Lumimyrsky's leader, Lady Gelu, wishes to talk with you."

Sensing that she could trust the leader of the guards, Cynder nodded and followed the guards along with her friends.

...

**A/N: For those of you who don't know, Gelu is an OC who belongs to Native Avenger. She appears in his story In The Name of Liberty II. **


End file.
